Memorandum by South Ribble Borough Council
(HOM 10)
1. BACKGROUND
1.1 South Ribble Borough Council is a Large
Scale Voluntary Transfer Authority (LSVT). The councils housing
stock was transferred to New Progress Housing Association (NPHA)
in 1994. The Homelessness and Housing Advice service was originally
contracted out to NPHA, however this was brought back In-house
in April 2003. The Housing Register, Interim and Out of hours
call service is still contracted to NPHA, and the Interim accommodation
(31 units) is owned and managed by New Progress HA.
1.2 I am also attaching a report by South
Ribble Key which is their response to this inquiry. Key carry
out housing advice and mediation for young people aged 16-25 on
behalf of the council.
2. THE ISSUES
2.1 The overall level and the nature of need
for housing homeless people
There has been a dramatic increase in the number
of homeless presentations over the last 12 months. In 2002-03
SRBC dealt with 420 compared with 541 in 2003-04. The Homelessness
Act 2002 expansion in priority need groups has had an effect,
in particular in relation to 16-17 year olds. South Ribble BC
accepted this group as being in priority need prior to the act
as best practise, however the legislation coming into force has
increased the number of presentations from this group. South Ribble
does have some provision for this client group however it is not
enough to meet the demand and there is difficulty in meeting the
need of those who require a high level of support. Some providers
are reluctant to house those who are under 18 and where they will
accept them character references are required which proves difficult.
They are largely unable to access the private sector due to high
rent levels and the restrictions of the single room rent.
The main causes of homelessness in South Ribble
are:
— Parents unable or unwilling to accommodate.
— End of assured shorthold tenancies
in the private sector.
— Relationship breakdown.
These are the three main causes being addressed
in the South Ribble Homelessness strategy.
In addition the reduced supply of affordable
housing has impacted on the number of presentations and there
has also been an increase in those presenting due to Domestic
Violence.
2.2 The success of policies meeting the needs
of homeless households, in particular; families, single people
and those who are intentionally homeless
The South Ribble Homelessness strategy has introduced
a number of initiatives in an attempt to reduce homelessness within
the borough, the specific ones in relation to the points mentioned
in 2.1 include:
— Mediation service for parents and
young people.
— Homelessness education in schools.
— Increasing levels of floating support.
— Increasing the number of host families
for the SLEAP (Support in Leyland with emergency accommodation
for young people)/Supported lodgings schemes.
— Expansion of the bond guarantee scheme
to access the private sector.
— Employment of an outreach worker
to support victims of domestic abuse, developing a package of
home and personal security measures and implementing the domestic
violence housing code of practise.
— Improved and more co-ordinated housing
advice to prevent loss of tenancy.
The success of some of these policies can only
be measured in future years (eg education in schools) and others
will be reviewed when the homelessness strategy is reviewed.
Funding has been through the ODPM priority needs
funding which is vital to these initiatives being continued.
Other initiatives in the strategy have been
put on hold at present eg: the development of Housing Associations
as Managing Agents (HAMA) scheme has been unsuccessful due to
the shortfall of housing benefit compared with the charges being
made to cover the rent and Registered Social Landlords charges.
Although the bond guarantee scheme is up and running this is hindered
for the under 25s (many of whom do not fall within a priority
need group under the legislation) due to the restrictions of the
single room rent which is nowhere near enough to meet the rent
levels in the private sector if someone is on benefit. This sector
remains inaccessible to many of those who are working as those
under 25 do not tend to be high earners. We would welcome the
government reviewing the single room rent policy in order to increase
access to the private sector.
As previously mentioned South Ribble is an LSVT
and is therefore dependent on other organisations to discharge
its statutory duty. This point will be discussed in more detail
later in this response.
2.3 The adequacy of investment in housing
for homeless people and the quality of accommodation available
for them
South Ribble Borough Council in conjunction
with Preston City Council, Chorley Borough Council and English
partnerships has recently commissioned a Housing Market Study,
which was carried out by the Northern Housing Consortium. South
Ribble is comparatively affluent, however two of the wards are
within the top 20 of deprivation nationally. The study indicates
a need for affordable housing in all sectors within the borough,
however this is in tension with local planning constraints due
to regional planning policy. The increase in the Right to buy/acquire
and the lack of investment to replace lost stock has contributed
to the reduction in suitable available accommodation.
The problems around securing revenue funding
under the Supporting People pot are a concern and the future of
support schemes is at risk as a result of this.
The government made extra resources available
to assist in implementing the Homelessness Act. However this does
not cover the additional cost to administer the increasing numbers
of homeless applicants. This has increased the pressure the staff
dealing with homelessness are under when fulfilling their statutory
duty. In the South Ribble area an additional staff member would
ease this pressure and enable the council to take a more pro-active
role in ensuring housing need is met.
2.4 Factors affecting the successful implementation
of the Homelessness Act 2002
The largest need is suitable housing provision.
As previously mentioned there has been an increase
in presentations from 16-17 year olds. A lack of suitable accommodation
means that they may be placed in unsuitable forms of temporary
accommodation eg: B&B despite the best efforts of the homelessness
staff and other agencies.
The same is true of those accepted as being
in priority need due to leaving prison, drug and alcohol needs
and those with severe mental health needs or physical disability.
We are working in partnership through our Homelessness
Strategy to try and address these issues. However the problem
can only be fully addressed if resources are made available to
secure adequate provision to meet the needs of these groups. For
example South Ribble does not have a bail hostel or other type
of "halfway house" for those who have become institutionalised
in prison. Placement may be in a B&B where the chance of failure
is increased. This is the same for other vulnerable groups.
2.5 The location of provision for homeless
people relative to where they live
An acceptance as statutory homeless will generally
mean that the household will be considered for a suitable offer
anywhere within the borough. Account is taken of their preferences,
however this can not always be met due to the demand and lack
of availability in certain areas. South Ribble is planning to
introduce a choice based lettings scheme in early 2005 and it
will be interesting to see the effect that this has.
2.6 The balance of public investment in housing
for key workers and homeless people
The investment in key workers is not an initiative
that South Ribble benefits from.
2.7 Priority for homeless within the overall
allocation of social housing
Homeless applicants are given additional priority
with the LSVT who also administer nominations on behalf of the
council. Nomination agreements have not in the past been met by
all Housing Associations. A common nomination agreement has been
introduced locally and this will be closely monitored. We would
welcome a closer partnership arrangement with the Housing Corporation
to address issues of nomination quota not being met if required.
The council is also in the process of carrying
out consultation with other partners regarding the use of starter
tenancies across the board to address the issue of households
that RSLs are reluctant to house eg: those with previously proven
anti-social behaviour.
Some concern has been expressed regarding in
appropriate allocation of properties eg: a single parent with
a child being offered a three bedroom house where a more appropriate
allocation could have been made.
2.8 Whether the non housing services provided
for homeless people are adequate and are co-ordinated with housing
provision
There is an important role for non housing services
to provide support for homeless people and to assist in the prevention
of homelessness. There are a number of joint protocols in place
or in the process of being developed in South Ribble:
— Joint protocol for those leaving
Care.
— Joint protocol with the Youth offending
team.
— Joint protocol for the rehousing
of 16-17 year olds.
— Notification to the Primary Care
Trust of families with young children in temporary accommodation.
— Work with the TOWER project (A county
wide multi agency initiative that targets persistent offenders
who suffer addiction to drugs and may be trapped in a cycle of
drug taking, offending and prison. The project is managed by a
police sergeant in South Ribble, Chorley and West Lancs (southern
division) Persistent offenders whose offending is known to be
linked to drugs are identified and pro-actively offered opportunity
to receive immediate drug treatment and other lifestyle support
for example help with housing (Fuller definition available if
required).
In order for these protocols to work there needs
to be in place an agreement for sharing information. Interpretation
of the Data Protection Act has sometimes led to the Housing Service
being unaware of certain issues, for example the fact that one
applicant had a history of arson. Information like this is vital
if a temporary placement is required in order to minimise risk.
There are also anomalies with the duties and
powers between agencies and gaps in provision. For example the
Housing Service may refer an intentionally homeless family to
social services. In reality social services do not have the means
to accommodate the family and in turn request the assistance of
the local authority. This does not solve the problem for the family.
A recent survey of gaps in housing need show
South Ribble to be top in the ranking in Lancashire in the need
for services for:
— Ex offenders, particularly as we
are trying to work with the TOWER project.
— Those with mental health problems.
Services for those with drug and alcohol problems
are also required—at the time of drafting this report we
are still awaiting figures from Supporting People to back this
up.
2.9 Whether public agencies are effective
in preventing people becoming homeless
There is a lot of emphasis on partnership working
within South Ribble and this needs to be built on to increase
effective joint working. Many households presenting as homeless
are vulnerable with varied support needs that cannot be met by
housing alone. Every effort needs to be made to maintain existing
support networks and to put the right level of support in place
to prevent the loss of housing.
Improved housing advice means that more people
are aware of their right to present as homeless, which will increase
the numbers presenting when other prevention methods have failed.
It is evident that education has a large role
to play in ensuring that young people are properly equipped to
live independently, for example teaching life skills such as cooking,
budgeting etc.. There are an increasing number of parents who
are aware that their child can apply from age 16. Awareness needs
to be raised among parents and young people of the consequences
of a young person failing in a tenancy and the repercussions this
can have later in life, for example a failed tenancy could mean
that the young person is deemed to be intentionally homeless in
the future.
IN ADDITION
Analysis in the presentations in the South Ribble
area shows that an increasing number of presentations are being
made from out of the area which we are obliged to investigate.
This is a drain on the resources in the area and whilst sometimes
the reasons for presentation in this area are legitimate, in other
cases there is no apparent reason for this. In the first quarter
of the current year 21% of applications were from out of the area
South Ribble Borough Council has previously commented on the new
BVPI—BV203 which measures the number of homeless families
being placed in temporary accommodation. As an LSVT there is no
chance of South Ribble securing an immediate placement in a permanent
tenancy. 31 units of interim accommodation are provided, to reduce
the number of placements of families in these units means that
we are either filling the units with single people, we are not
moving families on to permanent accommodation or we are leaving
the accommodation empty and encouraging families to remain in
a more unsuitable situation. In view of this the council does
not feel that this is a particularly useful indicator for the
South Ribble area.
Suzanne Ravenscroft
Housing Needs and Enabling Officer
South Ribble Borough Council
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