What Value is a Home? Mapping outcomes of evaluations that prioritise secure, stable and permanent housing for people who have been homeless.
This peer-reviewed article by Dr P Carnemolla and V Skinner was published in the international Journal of Planning Literature in May 2021.
As governments and service agencies across the world grapple with chronic rates of homelessness and housing instability, there is a growing need to understand the value that providing secure, stable housing brings to the lives of people who are homeless and the broader community. This paper is a scoping review of 100 international academic papers that report on the benefits and/or changes that occurred when people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity transitioned into a secure, stable home. It reveals a positive story about the circuit-breaker that stable housing provides for people who have been homeless. In addition to a moral and welfare case to provide people with a stable home, our research found a strong financial incentive. Individuals who are homeless place a much heavier call than the rest of us in their use of police and ambulance call-outs, gaols, emergency wards, hospital nights, mental health clinics, and drug and alcohol facilities.
Image: Alex Frayne