'Housing first' call to assist substance abusers

Guernsey needs a "housing first" approach to help people with drink or drug problems, without preconditions such as sobriety or employment, a charity leader says.

The comments, from Charlie Cox of At Home in Guernsey, come in response to a government report saying people living in insecure or unstable housing were more likely to have drug and alcohol use issues.

The report's data showed people in privately-rented accommodation were more likely to have high‑risk drinking behaviours, and those in affordable housing were more likely to binge drink.

Health leaders said improvements had to look at support services, at how to help people in the community and preventing problems in the first place.

The Combined Substance Use Strategy for Guernsey and Alderney 2027–2032, published by Public Health in March, frames substance use less as individual choice and more as a consequence of wider social and economic pressures.

It is also now framed as a health issue shaped by environment, trauma and inequality.

The strategy agreed that a "whole‑system" approach connecting health services with housing, social care and employment support was needed, rather than treating addiction in isolation.

The approach marks a clear change in tone from earlier strategies that focused more heavily on enforcement or treatment alone.

However, there is currently no temporary accommodation available to people in Guernsey who may be struggling with substance issues.

Cox said: "The fact that our only emergency accommodation is either St Julian's [House] or our two Caritas pods, it's a huge problem.

"If someone is struggling with their substance use and needs somewhere to go, because perhaps they've lost their tenancy, there's very little support available for them which combines housing and the support that they might need to access."

A wet house is a place where homeless people with serious alcohol problems can live. Crucially, they can also drink.

Cox said she believed Guernsey needed to take a "housing first" approach that prioritised providing permanent housing immediately to people experiencing homelessness, without preconditions such as sobriety or employment, offering support services afterward.

She said: "There's absolutely no way we could expect somebody struggling with substance use to make any meaningful change if they don't know where they're sleeping tonight."

Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said: "Poor housing or lack of acceptable, affordable housing means that people are often living in poor conditions.

"If someone is living in poor housing, stopping substance use, whether it's alcohol or another substance or even reducing it, can be really difficult.

"We not only need to focus on services, which I think are incredibly important, but we also need to focus on how we can help people within the community, and also how we can prevent problems occurring in the first place."

Aaron Davis, service manager at charity Action for Children, said: "We know that people who use substances are four times more likely to experience homelessness than than other peers.

"It's about early intervention. It comes back to how we prevent young people from using substances in the very first place.

"For some young people, whether that's adverse childhood experiences, whether that's poverty, whether that's housing instability, there's lots of drivers behind that. But how do we get in at the earliest possible point to prevent those things from happening.

"Because, if we can prevent that, ultimately they've got a better chance of securing and sustaining accommodation in the future."

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