HUNDREDS of houses are to be handed to Scotland’s homeless people in an initiative led by a social enterprise that started life as a sandwich shop.

Edinburgh-based Social Bite, which has had support from Hollywood celebrities, Prince Harry and his fiancée Meghan Markle, says it plans to have the first homes occupied within weeks.

Over the coming 18 months at least 600 homeless people will be handed the keys to properties in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee and given comprehensive support to help them settle in.

The homes have been identified by housing providers from existing stock.

Social Bite has pledged £3m over two years to the 600 Homes project. Most of it which was raised by Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park event in December, when 8000 people including Sir Bob Geldof took part in “the world’s biggest sleepout” in freezing conditions in Edinburgh. The event raised a total of £4m.

It is the UK’s first ‘Housing First’ initiative of its kind, based on a model which aims to give vulnerable homeless people a secure home with a full support structure in place which helps them to sustain their tenancy and re-integrate into society.

Around 33 properties per month are expected to be released up to September 2019. They include 500 properties which have been offered by Edinburgh City Council and a range of housing associations and in Glasgow and the central belt by the Wheatley Group.

Dundee City Council, with partner housing associations, has also pledged 100 homes over the 18 months of the programme.

Social Bite will invest £1.5m into funding the support costs over the first 12 months and then plans to invest a further £1.5m over the following 12 months, alongside other funders.

Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, said: “Our plan is to start placing people that are currently sleeping rough and in hostels or other temporary accommodation into this mainstream housing this Spring. We will now seek to work alongside other funders and The Scottish Government to ensure that the ambitious scale of this Housing First program can be realised and that it can help lead to a significant structural change in how homelessness is dealt with in Scotland.

“All involved believe that this can be a major step in dealing with the homelessness issue here.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is fantastic to see the funds raised by everyone who took park in Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park supporting the 600 Homes initiative. The work of Social Bite has an important part to play in meeting our shared commitment to ensure vulnerable people can escape the dangers and uncertainties of homelessness, ensuring they have a warm and safe place to call home.”

She added: “: “Tackling homelessness is a key priority for the Scottish Government. That is why we have set up the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, which includes Social Bite, to recommend the action needed to tackle the issue, backed by £50 million to drive change. That includes development of the Housing First model, which has shown great results so far.”

Social Bite started as a sandwich shop in Edinburgh’s Rose Street five years ago. It distributes 100,000 items of food and hot drinks to homeless people across Scotland each year, as well as employing staff who have experienced homelessness themselves. It has attracted support from several high-profile figures, including Leonardo di Caprio and George Clooney and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Prince Harry praised the social enterprise during his visit to the Edinburgh shop with fiancée Meghan Markle last week, and called for its model to be replicated across the UK.

Social Bite is also behind a radical plan for Scotland’s first homeless village, a settlement of 10 two-bedroom homes in Edinburgh’s Granton area which is expected to see its first tenants later this year.