SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
Ensuring homeless persons have adequate furniture is essential if they are to maintain their new tenancies and avoid repeat homelessness. This has been widely recognised in the past but there is a danger that financial pressures on government will lead to cuts in this non statutory service. Furniture reuse projects have played an important role in supplying furniture to homeless persons in Scotland, but the removal of grant funding has left many of these projects dependent on sales to the general public and reduced the number of homeless persons they are able to help.
Having a home is much more than having a house. A home is a place which provides warmth, familiarity and a sense of security. Its furniture and furnishings and manner of its decoration provide a sense of personal identity.
"For many homeless people, the offer of an unfurnished tenancy is not enough because they lack the means to provide basic furniture. In these circumstances, the tenancy is unlikely to be viable or sustainable."
