Homelessness on the Rise in Finland

Homelessness will be solved in cities – and in the Parliament

Homelessness in Finland is concentrated in cities, and the development of the largest cities largely determines the development of the country as a whole. Espoo (-32) and Vantaa (-25) were most successful in reducing homelessness. The largest increases were recorded in Tampere (+117), Turku (+52) and Helsinki (+47).

“Helsinki has been exceptionally successful in reducing homelessness in previous years and has ensured a downward trend in the national figures. Now the number of homeless people increased in Helsinki, even though an impressive number of homeless people were housed during the year,” says Ojankoski, adding, “Helsinki undoubtedly has the best homelessness work in the world and the results have spoken for themselves. Now it seems that so many people end up homeless that services simply cannot keep up.”

In Helsinki, the number of housing advice client contacts increased by almost 80% during the year.

In the ARA report, cities provide estimates of local trends in homelessness. The increase in the number of homeless people is seen as a result, in particular, of the rising cost of living and cuts in social security. Cuts in housing and income support are estimated to be reflected in the demand for housing advice and affordable housing as well as in the increase in evictions and homelessness.

“At Y-Säätiö we see the same phenomenon. Compared to previous years, we are seeing many more tenants being forced to resign because of the level of rents and, correspondingly, more applications for lower-cost apartments at the request of Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.

The aim of the reforms was to steer people receiving subsidies towards more affordable housing, but the result is that a number of people are being pushed out and driven into homelessness. The demand for small and affordable housing has increased as a result of the conditions and decisions, and there is not enough suitable housing for everyone,” says Ojankoski.

In addition to cuts in social benefits, the homelessness field is feeling the effects of the halving of the budget for housing advice. The aim of housing advice is to ensure continuity of housing and prevent evictions and homelessness.

“Cancelling the cuts in housing advice would be the easiest way to start a corrective movement. Housing advice is proven to be an effective way to prevent evictions. It also delivers exceptionally clear, cost-saving benefits.”

Increase in street homelessness a cause for concern

The rapid increase in street homelessness is particularly worrying. This refers to the number of people living outside, in stairwells and emergency shelters, which rose by 50% in a year to 694. The increase occurred in all major cities except Lahti.

“Street homelessness is the ultimate form of social exclusion. People experiencing street homelessness are outside of services, even if the need for support is greater,” said Ojankoski.

Over the past year, housing and homelessness professionals have also identified a largely new group of people experiencing homelessness. Homelessness services have encountered people on low incomes who have no other significant challenges in life apart from homelessness.

“This phenomenon shows how squeezed some Finns are in the housing market. The rising cost of living reduces the margins of their daily economy to a minimum. In this situation, if there are changes in life circumstances, health challenges or a reduction in social benefits, the risk of losing one’s home can become a reality for an surprisingly large number of people,” says Ojankoski.

The solutions are known

Finland’s successful homelessness work has been based on a holistic approach. Homelessness has decreased because sufficient resources have been allocated to preventive structures, such as affordable housing and social security, and to effective homelessness work. Homeless people are helped through the Housing First principle, which is based on the premise that housing is a human right. The first step is to ensure that everyone has a home of their own and to provide individual support.

“Homelessness is a social phenomenon and the number of homeless people depends on social conditions – not on the characteristics of individuals. Reducing homelessness has been one of the brightest successes of the Finnish welfare state. Now we are moving towards a society that produces homelessness instead of reducing it.

We know exactly how to make homelessness decrease again. It is a matter of choice: do we want to do it?” sums up Ojankoski.

In the spring, the government’s programme to end long-term homelessness by 2027 will be launched in full force as cities and social well-being counties launch local development projects with more than €8 million in funding. The programme aims to ensure that everyone who is long-term homeless gets the support they need, while creating permanent structures and processes for cities and social well-being counties to work together.

“The now confirmed data on the rise in homelessness underlines the need for joint programming and local projects. The rise in homelessness also shows that a focus on ending long-term homelessness is not enough if prevention fails.

We need to react now, before the problems become more deeply entrenched. This situation is not the result of a single bottleneck, we need a multi-faceted approach to homelessness prevention. At its best, homelessness work is about avoiding the experience of homelessness altogether,” says Ojankoski.