Housing First | This is how NRW fights against homelessness

The broad concepts against homelessness and homelessness in North Rhine-Westphalia come very late. The federal government wanted to eliminate homelessness nationwide by 2030. Photo: dpa/Paul Zinken The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is stepping up the fight against housing and homelessness and wants to promote so-called Housing First offers more specifically. The Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MAGS) in Düsseldorf has created an implementation concept to support interested municipalities and providers in the introduction of local offers. It is a component of the nationwide initiative “Finally a Home” and is intended to focus on the “weakest of the weak among homeless people,” as Social Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) calls them.

Housing First offers take the approach of providing permanent housing without any preconditions to homeless and homeless people in complex problem situations. Based on this, they should be supported socially, therapeutically and psychologically.

So far, it is estimated that more than 5,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia still fall through the care grid. They are often people who, in addition to their homelessness and homelessness, also struggle with other problems, such as mental illnesses or addictions. They have little chance in the tense housing market and they often cannot access existing support structures.

Housing First is intended to support these people in building a stable life again - through a permanent apartment with a rental agreement and, if necessary, residential and social-educational support. This is financed by the public sector or sponsors.

“Housing First offers people a stable living space without any detours and thus the chance for a new life,” explains Marco Schmitz, CDU member of the state parliament and from the Social Foundation NRW. Experiences and studies show that Housing First significantly improves health and social stabilization and opens up new perspectives for those affected, said Schmitz.

With its funding opportunities, the Social Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia is “an important building block for creating appropriate offers to combat homelessness,” says Laumann, praising the foundation, which is based in his house. Specifically, the Social Foundation NRW says it is providing up to five million euros for start-up financing in the area of ​​Housing First. The municipalities or providers would initially only have to cover a fraction themselves. However, it is questionable what comes after the start-up financing and what permanent regular financing could look like.

The acquisition and conversion of real estate, conversion measures and the construction of new buildings are also supported as part of a Housing First concept. The funding amounts to up to 90 percent of the costs. Members of a leading association of independent welfare organizations in North Rhine-Westphalia are eligible to apply.

The pioneer of Housing First in North Rhine-Westphalia is the homeless aid organization “fiftyfifty” from Düsseldorf. She welcomes the state government's move. “However, this initiative comes very late,” says founder Hubert Ostendorf. The federal government had already formulated the goal of overcoming housing and homelessness in Germany by 2030 in the National Action Plan against Homelessness in 2024. "From the perspective of 'fiftyfifty', the question can therefore be asked: How is this goal to be achieved?"

Housing First only works if there are apartments available. According to calculations by the Pestel Institute, there was a shortage of around 376,000 apartments in North Rhine-Westphalia at the end of 2024 - more than in any other federal state. The shortage of affordable housing is particularly great. At the same time, NRW continues to lose social housing due to expiring bonds.

“In 2025 alone, around 6,800 new social housing units were built, while more than 26,000 apartments fell out of social security – the bottom line is a loss of around 18,500 social housing units,” calculates Ostendorf. Minister Laumann therefore does not expect to achieve the goal of eliminating homelessness by 2030.

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