Bournville Village Trust (BVT) is taking positive steps to prevent homelessness by ensuring customers have the best start in their homes, including measures that make a real difference for care leavers leaving its supported accommodation and moving to independent living, writes Arthur Tsang, Director of Communities.
Like many cities in the UK, Birmingham has seen the number of people looking for help linked to homelessness rise. Last year, the average number of people seeking support was 30% higher than in 2020, and 20% higher than in 2021. In 2023, there were also nearly 4,500 families living in temporary accommodation, with more than 1,000 in B&Bs or hotels. As we mark World Homeless Day, it’s important to ask ourselves if we’re really doing everything we can as providers of social housing to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.
Like many providers, we work hard to help people sustain their tenancies by offering key day-to-day services and support. Our income and money matters teams help customers with managing their rent accounts, including offering additional support to those struggling financially such as assisting them to claim benefits, apply for grants or support and make referrals to specialist agencies and charities on their behalf. In addition to this, our neighbourhood coordinators support customers with tenancy issues or queries and signpost them to community support that helps them to thrive in their home and community.
All these services are vital in supporting customers to successfully manage and keep their tenancies, but we knew we could do more to make sure we’re giving people the best start in their home. In 2019, we worked with customers to review the standard of service they can expect from us when they move into a home. One of the things customers told us was that decorating their new property was an expense they couldn’t often afford, but that it was one of the most important ways to make their house feel like home. In response, we now offer all new tenants a decoration voucher of £200 for homes with up to two bedrooms or £300 for homes with three bedrooms or more, where redecoration is needed. Whilst it may seem like a small gesture, it has a big impact.
Customers have the freedom to put their own stamp on the property
Not only do the vouchers help reduce the initial expense of moving into a new home, but they give customers the freedom to put their own stamp on the property. It also reduces the demands of redecorating work on our in-house Maintenance Services team.
Thanks to support from the Edward Cadbury Trust, we also have funding specifically to prevent homelessness in some of our Telford communities that don’t have access to statutory support. This fund is vital in helping tenants who are in serious debt and rent arrears to reduce debt and gain financial stability.
Care leavers are one example of customers who need a higher level of support to sustain their tenancy
We recognise that some customers need a higher level of support to sustain their tenancy and reduce the risk of homelessness, and care leavers are just one example of this. According to care charity Become, more than 4,300 care leavers became homeless last year – an increase of 54% in the last five years.
At BVT, we have been working with care leavers since 2001, providing specialist support through our independent living scheme in Birmingham, the Holdings. Many of the young people we work with come to us having experienced trauma, abuse or exploitation and increasingly, we’re also seeing more young people with complex mental health or neurodivergent needs.
Whilst with us, young people have access to a full range of support from education, training or work to managing their health and wellbeing and giving them the skills for independent living, such as cooking, shopping and paying bills. Most importantly, we provide an open door and a listening ear.
When young people leave us at 18, we offer a minimum six-month floating support service to help the transition from supported accommodation to independent living. Where suitable, our care leavers are also offered first refusal on all our studio or one-bedroom flats, so they can stay in the area if they choose to. All our care leavers’ accommodation comes furnished and young people can take this furniture, which includes a bed, bedroom furniture and white goods, with them when they leave us, even if they don’t stay in one of our properties. This helps the household grant they get from the local authority go that bit further and makes the move to their new home more familiar and comforting.
Get to really know your young tenants
As a small community-based charitable trust, we’re in a good position to offer this service but there’s a lot that other, large housing providers can do to support care leavers to sustain their tenancies. If you manage care leavers’ accommodation, leave the door open for young people to check in with you – a short conversation could change their day! If you don’t provide specialist accommodation like this, still get to really know your young tenants and if they are a care leaver, consider that they may need additional support to live in their home.
Homelessness may be on the rise in Birmingham and across the country, but with focused support and small measures that have a big impact, it doesn’t have to be inevitable for social housing tenants or care leavers.