The government has pledged £8m towards ending rough sleeping across Greater Manchester.
New housing secretary James Brokenshire said the funding is intended to help 500 rough sleepers and those at risk of rough sleeping with the most complex needs.
He also announced a rough sleeping strategy would be published in July and will set out how the government intends to meet its pledge to halve rough sleeping by 2022, and eradicate it by 2027.
In a statement to parliament Mr Brokenshire said: “People will be provided with stable, affordable accommodation and intensive wrap-around support. This will help them to recover from complex issues, such as substance abuse and mental health difficulties, and sustain their tenancies.
Greater Manchester is one of three areas in the country to share a £28m fund along with the West Midlands and the Liverpool City Region.
The money will be used by the pilot scheme Housing First which claims a success rate far higher than with a hostel-based accommodation approach, which often sees overs fifty per cent of users with complex needs leave projects before their homelessness is resolved.
Responding to the news The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, who this week wrote to the party leaders on the issue said:
“I welcome this new funding from the Government to allow Greater Manchester to pioneer our own Housing First approach. Our plans will help more than 500 people to sustain a life off the streets by providing a home plus personal support.
“Greater Manchester is developing genuinely innovative solutions to tackling homelessness and that is why we were the first UK city to achieve Vanguard status from the Institute for Global Homelessness. We are building a movement for change across Greater Manchester society with the clear goal of ending the need for rough sleeping here by 2020.
