Finland is unusual in Europe for its falling number of homeless people. The figure now stands at around 7,000 from a high of around 18,000 in 1987. The Housing First approach has been fundamental to reducing the numbers of acutely homeless people, especially since the launch of the Paavo housing strategy in 2008. Paavo saw the conversion of existing homeless shelters into rental flats for homeless people as well as targets for the number of new housing units to be built by each municipality in the ten cities taking part in the programme. To read more about Paavo and Housing First in Finland, click here.
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