Dundee City Council has pledged to provide 100 homes for rough sleepers as part of a “game changing” social initiative.
The local authority will contribute to Social Bite’s 600 Homes Campaign, which aims to tackle Scotland’s homelessness problem.
Over the next two years the programme, backed by Nicola Sturgeon, will aim to provide homes and support to 600 people in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.
Councillor Kevin Cordell, the city’s convener of neighbourhood services, said: “Dundee City Council is pleased to be participating in the 600 Homes campaign, which will help us to provide sustainable outcomes for vulnerable people in line with our ‘Not Just a Roof’ Housing Options and Homelessness Plan.”
Social Bite has pledged £3m to the initiative, most of which has been raised by Sleep in the Park, a mass sleep-out which saw more than 8,000 people sleeping out on one of the coldest nights of the year.
Social Bite will invest £1.5m into funding the support costs over the first 12 months and then plans to invest a further £1.5m over the following 12 months, alongside other funders.
The first homes will become available in spring this year with roughly 33 properties per month being released each month up to September 2019.
The 600 Homes campaign follows a ‘Housing First’ model, which gives people a secure home and then puts in a place a support structure to help them sustain their tenancy and re-integrate into society.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Tackling homelessness is a key priority for the Scottish Government.
“That includes development of the Housing First model, which has shown great results so far.
“The work of Social Bite has an important part to play in meeting our shared commitment to ensure vulnerable people can escape the dangers and uncertainties of homelessness, ensuring they have a warm and safe place to call home.”
Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, said: “Prior to Sleep in the Park, we commissioned a study from Heriot-Watt University, which engaged with almost every homelessness charity in the country on how homelessness could be eradicated in Scotland.
“The one key recommendation that the academics and the vast majority of the homelessness sector were aligned on was the implementation of a Housing First strategy, where homeless people are allocated a mainstream home and provided a comprehensive and flexible support structure.”
