North West Leicestershire Homelessness Prevention Strategy Refresh & Action Plan Development 2012/13

Data and Information from organisations in North West Leicestershire who provide homelessness services directly or indirectly.

Organisation / Individuals Assistedwith homelessness issues 2010/11 / Individuals Assisted with homelessness issues2011/12
North West Leicestershire
Housing Advice Team / 128 / 200
Probation / 22 / 21
Community Care / See notes
Living Without Abuse / 50 / 21
Durban House / 19 / 18
Mental Health / Data not available see notes.
North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project. / Data to come

NOTES ON DATA:

North West Leicestershire Housing Advice Team

From 2010/11 to 2011/12 there has been over a 50% increase in the number of homeless declarations taken.

Probation

Between April 2011 and March 2012 the probation accommodation team received 22 referrals for housing assistance from offenders who had a local connection to NWLDC. This figure represented 8.27% of all referrals and 19% of all referrals for those with connections to district local authorities.

Community Care

Do not hold data on clients housing situation but based on their experiences they have seen an increase in homelessness cases due to a lack of suitable accommodation for people after hospital discharge. Also an increase in domestic violence, and adult safeguarding issues which may result in homelessness or eviction.

Living Without Abuse (LWA)

The demand for assistance has not changed but LWA are unable to support as many families due to funding cuts in 2011/12. More funding was available in 2010/11; which is reason for higher figure. LWA have seen an increase in the number of families being referred to the service and believe this is due to the current financial climate and that more people are aware of their service. However they have not seen any particular increase in the percentage of families being supported to reduce repeat homelessness.

Durban House- supported Housing for young single homeless 16 to 25’s, based in Coalville.

Durban House had 60 referrals from June 2011-June 2012, level of referrals has remained the same as previous year. Housed 19young people a few of these did not take up the offer of accommodation, 11 were not accepted into the scheme as they had too high support needs. Receive quite a few referrals from social services maybe because of the requirement for Social Services to assist vulnerable 16-17year olds.

East Midlands Housing Association(EMHA)

Since the introduction of Choice Based Lettings(EMHA) do not keep their own waiting list so it is more difficult for them to answer questions about levels of homelessness. They actually see less people coming to them for advice as people are now required to register with North West Leicestershire District Councilfor accommodation through the Choice Based Lettings system.

North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project.

Data to come. The number of clients seen (around 125 pa) has not changed significantly, although the proportion of women has increased. Age profile hasn’t changed this is similar to last year also with number of 18-25 year olds seen and 35+ being similar ( 4 years ago the predominant age group seen was 16-25’s).

Profile of clients– the vast majority are unemployed, many have other problems – e.g. debt, substance abuse, mental health problems, a considerable number are not priority as far as the Council is concerned e.g. are deemed intentionally homeless, have not been in the area long enough.

Organisation / Question ( in bold) / Answers
Have you seen any changes in the type of household/family coming to you for advice? If so why do you think this is?
North West Leicestershire
Housing Advice Team / Yes we have seen an increase in single males with mental health issues, more young people and cases of domestic abuse. Possibly due to the present social and economic conditions prevailing in this country and that people are more aware of our services.
Probation / No
Community Care / More problem families due to Increased drug and alcohol related problems.
Living Without Abuse / Increase in the number of families being referred to the service, believe this is due to the current financial climate and that more people are aware of our services. However, we have not seen any particular increase in the percentage of families we are supporting to reduce repeat homelessness.
Durban House / Durban house only houses 16-25year olds, so the client group has stayed the same, a lot of these mainly being 16-20year olds.
North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project. / Seen an increase in young people under 35 (but not necessarily over 25) who very much do not want to be in shared accommodation but who struggle to find any sort of single bed unit which is affordable
Organisation / Have you seen any changes over the last twelve months in the reasons for peoples’ homelessness?
North West Leicestershire
Housing Advice Team / More of the following
  • Eviction from both private and social landlords
  • Parental exclusion
  • Domestic violence
  • Mortgage arrears
  • Leaving care
  • Job loss

Probation / No
Community Care / Increase in adults (but not elderly) being made homeless overnight due to acute physical conditions such as stroke. Theyhave been in private rented property or living with friends and need a more suitable home
Living With Abuse / Always domestic abuse nature of service
Durban House / Main reason for young people being homeless is family breakdown, mainly being parents splitting up and having new partners, and the young person not getting along with step dad/mum.
North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project. / Whilst the numbers are still small, more persons coming for advice who have been subject to domestic abuse– this may be related to relationships becoming more strained because of financial difficulties.
More single mothers, but usually this is for help with admin fees when they are using the Rent Deposit Scheme to assist with privately rented housing.
As was the case last year, a high percentage of applicants suffer from mental health problems of varying degrees of severity. Of concern the number of young people state that they are suffering from depression (and how many are allegedly dyslexic and/or claim to have ADHD).
Again, I have not noticed a marked increase, but many clients have been/are offenders and received various kinds of sentence.
Money is often an issue – many have difficulty in budgeting and find themselves in debt.
What has changed is that clients who have worked in the past and are keen to work, have been unable to get jobs. This sometimes applies to parents too who have therefore struggles to give any financial help to their children.
Perception is that there are often a few rough sleepers but this has probably not increased significantly since last year.
Reasons for homelessness have not been overly affected by the economic situation or changes to benefit. Probably seen a slight increase in those who have previously been in work, are unable to find jobs and therefore are finding it difficult to afford a single bed unit.
Not substantially. Possibly a few more homeless because they are struggling financially.
Organisation / What do you consider the current and future issues to be in North West Leicestershire.
North West Leicestershire
Housing Advice Team / Impacts of the localism act and welfare reform.
Not enough suitable accommodation for under 35’s as a result of changed in Local Housing Allowance. (LHA)
Lack of appropriate floating support or move on accommodation from places like Durban House.
Probation / Lack of single person accommodation, Lack of shared accommodation for under 35 year olds affected by changes to LHA rates
Community Care / Increase in social problems such as drug and alcohol related problems. Increase in physical problems and the need for suitable housing options.
Living With Abuse / The rise in domestic abuse and other social issues as a result of the financial climate which can, in turn, impact on people’s housing situation. The shortage of housing stock and the number of empty homes in the district.
Durban House / The area needs a hostel for young people with higher support needs. Durban house can’t accommodate many referrals as their support needs are too high.
Mental Health / Lack of support to help people through the Choice Based Lettings process and with practical help to help them find a home and move in. For example transport to view properties from hospital.
Lack of supported accommodation or cluster scheme so support needs can be met with shared staff specifically for people with long-term higher level needs.
The Mental health strategy ??????? is 2009 but we have just had a project worker helping people move from or avoid using residential care and this evidenced the ongoing need for this type of accommodation.
North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project. / Lack of (a) shared accommodation/bed-sits (b) temporary accommodation locally. (c) hostel space.
Difficulty prospective tenants have in finding guarantors.
Dislike of moving into shared accommodation, increasing with age.
Ongoing need for support (I know this is being addressed to some degree) – many find budgeting very difficult.
Attitude of landlords/agents to prospective tenants on benefits and reluctance of a good number to permit use of Rent deposit Scheme.
Inability to request that Local Housing Allowance be paid direct to landlord, Council officers seem to be able to get round this but I understand that they will not be able to do so once the universal welfare benefit comes in.
Delay in processing HB and inflexible rules about reclaim of back unpaid HB even when it is clear that the applicant was entitled to receive it.
Delays in payment of benefits e.g. JSA when claim first made or changes have to be made.
Lack of safety net/ support/ mentoring for a sort of “underclass” drifting around, sofa surfing/sleeping rough, sometimes for years.
Organisation / What do you think would make the biggest difference
a) to prevent homelessness?
b) to respond to homelessness?
North West Leicestershire
Housing Advice Team / a)More advice on how to budget and to ensure people get help before a problem becomes too big. More work with families to prevent family breakdown where a parent will no longer accommodate a young person. Improve communication with hospital’s such as Bradgate Mental health Unit and LRI so work on housing situation starts on hospital admission rather than discharge. Work with older pupils in school about housing and homelessness. Educate families with young people that homelessness is not route to getting council property. More mediation with landlords to prevent evictions. More floating support.
b)More move on accommodation and more floating support. More help for vulnerable people with Choice Based Lettings. Wider range of temporary accommodation.
Probation / a)Early intervention and mediation, floating support, more affordable housing.
b) Emergency short term supported accommodation in district, no Second Night Out policy for preventing rough sleeping, extended provision of rent deposit schemes
Community Care / a)Protocol to prevent unnecessary stays in hospital,
b) more suitable affordable accommodation for people with physical mobility problems.
Living With Abuse / a) raise awareness of services/options for people who are at risk of homelessness. To fund a service which specialises in housing issues, like The Bridge in Charnwood. Offer training to frontline staff around housing and homelessness legislation.
b) Research the most common causes of homelessness and fund more services to address the underlying issues of homelessness at an earlier stage.
Durban House / a)Durban house now provides resettlement and has kept a lot of young people settled in their own tenancies [resettlement in the north west area is very limited]
b)The area needs a hostel for young people with higher support needs. Durban house can’t accommodate many referrals as their support needs are too high.
Mental Health / Suitable move on accommodation for moving vulnerable people from problem situations who have somewhere to live but it is no longer suitable, or accommodation to move people from residential care or hospitals.
North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project. / a)More accommodation, more social housing generally. More shared accommodation/bedsits available. Incentives to landlords to provide these? More temporary accommodation at an affordable price.
Expansion of role of Landlord Liaison Officer which is a very good service particularly if links with an increasing number of landlords willing to advertise their properties on the Council website, can be made.
Increasing links with landlords so that it is known early on when people are getting into difficulties with rent so that there can be early intervention.
Better communication with Job Centre – it seems that delays in benefits, genuine mistakes in not attending appointments results in axing of Housing Benefit before tenant even realises and they start to accumulate debts very quickly. This situation needs to be better managed and when benefit reinstated, could HB not be automatically reinstated also?
Issue of partner being forced to leave home but because property in joint names not classed as homeless even though it is impossible to return, needs to be better managed.
More clarity as to evidence to be produced to show an individual is vulnerable e.g. because of mental health condition – need to talk to medical profession? (medical reports too expensive for potentially homeless to afford).
More ongoing contact with/support for tenants, where appropriate using modern communication methods e.g by texting
More inter-agency working (needs client’s consent) so appropriate support/interventions can be agreed.
b)More temporary accommodation.
To assist earlier with resolving a problem – if eviction taking place, often seems to be left until almost the last week before the District Council helps applicant to find a suitable property.
Offer support / mediation to parents (and offspring) if can be persuaded not to evict offspring or take him/her back.
More use of inter-agency working - often lack of a roof is only one of the problems.
Build up bank of landlords/ladies willing to offer temporary accommodation – surely some arrangement could be completed, with Housing Benefit section involved, which would cost a lot less than B & B.
Explore voluntary assistance (e.g. churches) so that homeless could have access to food (food bank being developed) or means of cooking food, place to shower and change clothes and to wash clothes.
Organisation / Examples of good practice in other areas.
North West Leicestershire
Housing Advice Team /
  • Regular joint agency meetings
  • Discharge protocols from local hospitals
  • Partnership protocols ie with leaving care service.
  • Education and other prevention work: education work in schoolsfor example like St Basils is a Birmingham
  • Counselling and family mediation- St Basilsin Birmingham provides a Family Mediation and Support service.
  • Crash Pads eg- Barnardo's Crashpad in Harrogate
  • Temporary Accommodation with Support e.g-Exeter City Council
  • The Bridge- Charnwood One stop shop for 16 & 17 year olds.

Probation / Voluntary and community sector vision for the future of homeless services (Publication drawn up by consortium of agencies working with homeless people in Leicester)
Regular MDT-Multi Disciplinary Team meetings to discuss and reach solutions for the most complex cases where the need for multi agency cooperation is essential
Community Care
Living With Abuse / The Bridge in Charnwood is a useful resource for housing advice. Living Without Abuse have recently completed some training to the housing team in Charnwood around the impact on domestic abuse on victims and how that can impact on their housing situation and how housing staff can best approach this when victims attend interviews with Housing Advisors. We are also looking at some Risk Assessment training with Housing Staff in Charnwood.
North West Leicestershire Homelessness Project. / The Bridge in Charnwood gives ongoing support to tenants. Some organisations supply support to certain categories of client – e.g. substance abuse, ex-offenders (Adullam), those suffering from mental health problems/learning difficulties (Advance).