Prince William launches 5-year project to end long-term homelessness in the UK

LONDON — Prince William launched a five-year project to end homelessness in the United Kingdom on Monday, saying he wants to make sure that instances of people being left without a roof over their heads are “rare, brief and unrepeated.”

The heir to the throne kicked off the initiative by visiting pilot projects that have received grants of up to 500,000 pounds ($637,000) each from the Royal Foundation, the charity that supports the work of William and his wife, Kate.

All of the initiatives, including more to be unveiled on Tuesday, involve collaborative efforts between local people, organizations and businesses to develop programs tailored to the needs of their communities.

“It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated, and I am very much looking forward to working with our six locations to make our ambition a reality,” William said in a statement.

The initiative, known as Homewards, hopes to learn from the example of countries such as Finland, which has virtually eliminated homelessness, in part by ensuring that people in crisis receive permanent housing as a first step before trying to address other issues such as substance abuse, William said.

William announced the plan as rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing push more people into homelessness amid the biggest decline in living standards since World War II. Recent research indicates that more than 300,000 people throughout the U.K. have no permanent housing on any given night, including those who are sleeping on the streets, living in cars, staying in hostels or temporarily seeking help from family and friends, Homewards said.

The prince said he first learned about homelessness when he visited a shelters with his mother, Princess Diana, when he was 11.

“I met so many extraordinary people and listened to so many heartbreaking personal stories," he said as he visited a mental health charity in south London. “Too many people have found themselves without a stable and permanent place to call home.″

Matt Downie, chief executive of the charity Crisis, said Britain needs to focus on new ways to get people off the streets, because the current system of putting people in “temporary” housing such as hostels and bed and breakfasts is costing billions of pounds a year and isn't working.

“The best way to tackle homelessness is to stop it happening in the first place,” Downie said. “We’ve seen it in other countries such as Finland, where homelessness is all but ended, and we’ve seen it when we follow innovative programs that give people housing first.”

This isn't the first time William has focused on the fight against homelessness. In 2009, he highlighted the issue by sleeping on the streets of south London, and last year he was spotted selling the Big Issue, a magazine that supports the homeless, on a London street.

But some have questioned how a man with luxurious properties, including an apartment at Kensington Palace, a cottage near Windsor Castle and a home on the king's Sandringham estate, can truly understand the issue. As Prince of Wales, he also controls the Duchy of Cornwall, some 52,000 hectares (128,500 acres) of land mostly in the Southwest of England.

In a recent interview with London's Sunday Times newspaper, William acknowledged that he was “one of the most unlikely advocates for this cause.”

But when he was asked whether there were any plans to put affordable housing in the Duchy of Cornwall, he answered, “Absolutely."

"Social housing," he told the Times. "You’ll see that when it’s ready. I’m no policy expert, but I push it where I can.”