Memorandum by the London Borough of Haringey
(HOM 40)
1. BACKGROUND—LEVEL
OF HOUSING
NEED
1.1 Haringey has a significant homelessness
problem and the number of homelessness approaches has continued
to increase while available permanent housing supply is falling,
leading to an increasing reliance on temporary accommodation (TA).
Haringey has the second highest level of TA use in the country,
with 4,970 households accommodated at the end of July 2004. We
receive in the region of 400 homeless applications per month and
accept approximately half of them.
1.2 The adverse effect of excessive concentrations
of temporary accommodation on community stability and other services
such as education and health is a significant issue, compounding
the pressures that both homeless households and the borough already
face.
2. POLICIES AND
THE NEEDS
OF HOMELESS
HOUSEHOLDS
2.1 Ending the two-year duty—we feel
that the ending of the two-year duty in the Homelessness Act 2002
has affected in some cases, our success in working with households
on alternative housing options. The two year duty was a useful
tool in getting people to consider alternative options as acceptance
was not an automatic route into permanent rehousing.
2.2 Discharge of duty into the private rented
sector—we have recently completed a very successful Landlord
Accreditation scheme pilot, which was partially funded by the
Homelessness Directorate. We have housed 31 households into accredited
properties in the private rented sector, who would otherwise have
faced homelessness. The households rehoused have chosen to participate
in the scheme voluntarily. However, the impact that the scheme
could have would be much greater if we were able to discharge
duty into the private rented sector. The majority of our households,
who are living in temporary accommodation, are occupying high
standard property on long leases. The current legislation prevents
us for using these properties to discharge duty, even though the
households as it stands are likely to occupy them for many years
to come.
2.3 Incentivising the private rented sector/Housing
Benefit—our pilot Landlord Accreditation scheme has offered
incentives to landlords who housed potentially homeless households
by offering a deposit and rent in advance. Although we are working
to obtain mainstream funding to enable the scheme to grow, this
can be difficult. The current operation of some of the Housing
Benefit regulations, such as the operation of the overpayment
claw back, serve to make the relationship between landlord, tenant
and the council more difficult. This is raised as a key issue
in all the consultation we conduct with local landlords. There
is also a need to look at barriers to working people accessing
private rented housing—more generous housing benefit entitlement
would help to avoid the poverty trap issue, provide an incentive
to work and make private renting a more sustainable option.
2.4 Right to Buy—our number of properties
available for letting or nomination continues to fall while the
demand for housing grows. In 2003-04 320 properties were sold
through the Right to Buy. Many of the properties lost are our
larger family sized units. In 2003-04 316 new affordable homes
will be delivered by RSLs in Haringey. However, this does not
even cover the numbers lost. Increasing numbers of Right to Buy
properties are being offered back to the council as private sector
leases. Of the units so far obtained in Haringey, through the
London and Quadrant Homelessness Initiative Leasing Scheme, 29
out of 32 were previous council properties purchased through RTB,
the majority being on the White Hart Lane Estate.
3. FACTORS AFFECTING
THE SUCCESSFUL
IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE HOMELESSNESS
ACT, 2002
3.1 Supporting People—Haringey has
an extensive and innovative Supporting People programme. We have
developed three floating support services—HARTS (for vulnerable
families), Key Support (for single adults with multiple needs)
and Sixty Plus. Through these services 150 floating support workers
provide help to 1,200 vulnerable households preventing truancy,
eviction, falls, hospital admission, homelessness and promoting
access to employment and training. The delivery of floating support
is an essential part of our homelessness prevention work. The
floating support services help to both sustain people in their
existing accommodation through the provision of debt and welfare
rights advice and support vulnerable households in temporary accommodation.
The planned efficiency savings and any future shift of funding
away from high demand areas is a matter of concern and would serve
to undermine the very positive work that is going on.
3.2 Probation Adviser—we have a NRF
funded specialist Housing Adviser, who works with ex-offenders.
The post enables us to assess housing need and provide resettlement
and tenancy support. The Adviser is help to work with the client
and agencies to achieve a smooth transition between prison and
the community. The success of many of the cases rests on proactive
liaison between internal and external partners, facilitated by
the Adviser. The Adviser has a target of 24 assessments per month
and these targets are being met.
3.3 16 and 17 year olds—we have a
Connexions Adviser based within our Homelessness team, who provides
advice and support to young homeless people. We also offer a Family
Mediation Service in conjunction with the North London Family
mediation service. Although the mediation was introduced as a
preventative initiative, it is also valuable in re-establishing
family relationships.
3.4 Domestic Violence—we have developed
a one-stop shop service for people facing domestic violence (Hearthstone).
The project is a partnership between the housing service, the
Police, Victim Support, the PCT, refuges, legal services, social
services, Probation and the voluntary sector. The range of partners
work together to address child protection, victim safety and home
security.
4. PRIORITY FOR
THE HOMELESS
WITHIN THE
OVERALL ALLOCATION
OF SOCIAL
HOUSING
We operate a target allocation policy (TAP)
within our overall Choice scheme. We allow all our accepted homeless
cases to be considered for housing via Choice. The mix of cases
that are placed within the `pool' of potential bidders is monitored
to try to ensure that each year 75% of two bed plus units and
50% of one beds go to homeless applicants. However, we monitor
the TAP to try and balance the needs of our homeless households
with others in housing need. We are currently considering lowering
the TAP for three and four bed units to allow us to clear the
backlog of council tenants who are awaiting transfers on the grounds
of overcrowding.
5. NON HOUSING
SERVICES PROVIDED
FOR HOMELESS
PEOPLE
5.1 Encouraging employment—there is
a perception that the high level of temporary accommodation charges
encourages some TA tenants to give up employment and discourages
others from seeking work. A survey of TA occupants carried out
as part of our Homelessness Review process indicated that although
some households were aspirational in terms of obtaining work in
the longer term, they did not feel that it was an option when
they were still only living in temporary accommodation. Haringey
do offer a Workers' Rebate, which limits the amount that the tenant
is charged to a maximum level—£80. This is aimed at
encouraging working tenants to maintain or extend employment and
ensuring that predominantly disadvantaged groups are not penalised
for working. However, the costs of offering this subsidy need
to be met by the council and there may be issues about sustainability
if greater numbers of our TA population worked. We see the issue
of homelessness and employment as a crucial one and are working
with our Employment Partnership on this issue.
5.2 Supporting People—as detailed
in 3.1 above we have an extensive Supporting People funded floating
support package in place. A key aspect of the support that is
offered to households moving into temporary accommodation is to
link the family into services that they require, such as access
to local heath care facilities and school provision for their
children. During the development of our Homelessness Strategy,
we worked with the PCT to conduct a Health Impact Assessment of
our recommendations and a number of areas for joint working have
been developed, including the provision of outreach advice surgeries
at GP's surgeries.
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