Mr. David Carroll:

Our third theme is access to housing. We deal with some of the most vulnerable households and people in the country and the city. One of our most significant challenges is obtaining housing and gateways into housing in the community. As Ms Barry outlined, it is not our intention to keep people in temporary accommodation for the rest of their lives. Housing and housing-led approaches are key to solving homelessness for these vulnerable groups. People who are homeless must be prioritised as having the greatest social housing need and priority must be given to long-term homeless households. The supply of units to accommodate different household types must be provided. The committee is dealing with this in other sessions.

A review of the local authority and approved housing body selection and allocation schemes must occur. The review must take into account estate management, treatment of local authority arrears, local authorities' refusal to accept housing applications and the allocation policies of approved housing bodies. In this section, we are focusing on the under 25s. We passionately state that single, independent people under the age of 25 have the same housing needs and costs as those aged over 25. Therefore, the full social welfare payment should be restored to the under 25s.

Our final theme is keeping people who move out of homelessness in housing. Our organisations do a remarkable job, even during the current crisis, to ensure people move out of temporary accommodation into the community.

A recently established concept which is internationally recognised, Housing First, ensures housing is provided first. The provision of wraparound supports in conjunction with it is a key solution in working with vulnerable groups. We, therefore, call for Housing First programmes which have proved successful in tackling long-term homelessness. They require available housing and wraparound support services. There is a need for increased investment in these programmes and a wider focus on specific groups, including young people. There also needs to be a focus on how to obtain more suitable tenancies for Housing First purposes.

Support to Live Independently, SLI, is an existing service model. It is a community support for people who move back into the community from temporary accommodation. SLI-type supports need to be tailored and extended to need and linked with tenancy sustainment services in a continuum within the community.

Our final recommendation relates to individuals whose health has deteriorated so much that they require supported accommodation. In many cases, this will be for the remainder of their lives. Consideration needs to be given to the long-term care needs of homeless persons with complex health issues. As those living in long-term accommodation units continue to age, consideration needs to be given to how to support them as their health diminishes. An increase in such accommodation provision is needed, together with an increase in the health services provided for such units. A definitive pathway into nursing home or palliative care for those whose health has deteriorated seriously is also required. It is a major travesty that homeless individuals with nursing home needs find it hugely difficult to access nursing home care.