Over 4,000 rough sleepers were given somewhere to stay within a couple of weeks, in the wake of the lockdown due to COVID-19. We don’t want to return them to the streets when lockdown finishes. What are your thoughts on the proposals we should put in place to avoid this and use to lobby the government?
Veteran issues have been in the spotlight recently, with the launch of the Government’s Veteran Strategy, and the creation of the Office of Veteran Affairs. Homes for Cathy member Riverside is one housing association that is committed to supporting veterans – Homes for Cathy spoke to Lee Buss, Riverside Director of Operations and Group Veterans Lead, to find out about the particular challenges veterans face in obtaining housing and how, as a sector, we can better respond to their needs.
As part of its commitment to veterans facing homelessness, Riverside runs three veteran accommodation services and two resettlement support services. The Beacon, Hardwick House and Mike Jackson House supported accommodation centres were developed by staff who have served in the Armed Forces themselves – something that the organisation believes is an important factor in running effective services. In addition, Riverside operates SPACES, a resettlement advice and case work service, which has helped over 18,000 homeless ex-servicemen and women since it was established in 2000. Another Riverside housing advice service is located with the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) in Colchester.
According to Lee Buss – a veteran himself – one of the main challenges around supporting veterans is a sense of disconnection from civilian society. He says:
“The Royal British Legion estimates there are 6,000 homeless veterans in the UK, and while the number of veterans sleeping rough isn’t 100% clear, most estimates place the figure at around 3% to 4% of the rough sleeping population. As veterans represent around 5% of the overall population, this means that veterans are actually proportionally under-represented in terms of homelessness statistics.
“Everyone’s journey into and out of homelessness is particular to them. However, specific populations such as veterans tend toward specific needs requiring specific responses. It takes a veteran on average nine years to ask for help – they can find it very difficult to engage with and trust professionals in services who have no military background, often as a result of their experience of transition, making them feel threatened, isolated and insular. They’re more likely to take up help if it’s being offered by an organisation that they know specifically supports veterans and that they perceive understands them, particularly if it’s in the form of peer support from other veterans.”
He adds: “As in the general population, veteran homelessness is commonly linked to trauma – although ex-servicemen and women are no more pre-disposed to PTSD than anyone else, the experience of battle can make a pre-existing condition resurface. Providing the right type of support is therefore crucial.”
In terms of housing, Lee is keen to stress veterans should not necessarily be given preference for properties over other vulnerable groups – instead the obstacles and barriers that hinder their pathways out of homelessness and into housing need to be removed.
“It’s not about veterans being given special treatment, it’s about putting measures in place to ensure they’re not disadvantaged as a result of their service. For example, in terms of choice based lettings or access to supported housing, the local connection criteria can have a real impact for people leaving the Armed Forces, who may been posted abroad or lived in different military bases across the UK. We are supporting veterans housing association Stoll and the Cobseo Housing Cluster in their campaign for local authorities to sign up to the Armed Forces covenant, whereby they promise to ensure that veterans and armed forces personnel are not disadvantaged as a result of their service.”
Outside of specialist supported housing for veterans, the one area where housing associations can have an influence over veteran homelessness is to develop a better knowledge of the organisations that support veterans, in order to be able to guide tenants to the appropriate, tailored support.
“There’s a huge amount of support for veterans on offer but you can only signpost them to it if you know what’s out there. Housing associations can help by compiling a list of local organisations that frontline staff can direct veterans towards,” adds Lee.
However, the most crucial thing is to have measures in place to identify veterans from the point of engagement, a message that is echoed in Stoll and the Cobseo Housing Cluster’s No Homeless Veterans campaign, which urges housing and homelessness staff to ‘Think Veteran’ and identify people who are ex-Forces.
Lee concludes:
“It’s vital that housing officers know who their veterans are, and have some insight into their unique history and circumstances and the services available to support them – so housing associations need to ensure they ask prospective tenants their veteran status and have systems in place to record it.”
To find out more about Riverside’s veterans services and research and recommendations into tackling veteran homelessness, click here. To find out more about the network of organisations supporting the Armed Forces community, visit Veterans Gateway.
Does your organisation offer support for veterans? How can housing providers improve veterans’ pathways into housing? We’d love to hear from you – get in touch with us at homesfor.cathy@hightownha.org.uk or comment below.
A traumatic past and mental health challenges are a common factor for many people at risk of homelessness. However, women in particular are often at greater threat of living with complex, multiple disadvantages that can lead to them becoming homeless, especially where dependent children are involved.
Homes for Cathy spoke to North Star Housing Group, one member organisation that is committed to offering a lifeline to vulnerable women to support them away from homelessness. North Star’s Hestia Service provides accommodation with intensive support to women in Teesside. In the two decades since the service’s inception, it has helped around 120 women gain the opportunity for a more positive future, with a secure, settled home for life, the cornerstone of its philosophy.
North Star’s Pauline Byrnes, Hestia manager, says, “Our USP is that once our service users no longer require support, they can remain in their home. If they want it to be a home for life, that’s exactly what it can be. Once support is no longer required, the property reverts to general needs property. This provides service users with the stability they’ve never had and from there they can start to address the other issues they may be facing. All we ask is that they fully engage in the support offered at the outset.”
Hestia’s service users are referred from a range of agencies including the local authority’s homeless service, mental health services, social care and probation and all are classed as homeless. Some have experienced failed private rental tenancies because of their mental health problems, while others have fled domestic violence or forced marriages. The service has also supported women with mild learning difficulties, as well as women whose children have special needs, many of whom receive no support from their families.
New service users are offered a property from North Star’s general needs stock which becomes a supported tenancy (Assured Shorthold). These are properties dispersed throughout the local area, rather than located in one dedicated block. They are usually terraced houses with a small back yard, typical of Middlesbrough’s traditional town centre housing stock. The properties are hand-picked to ensure they are located in areas where tenants can feel safe and come equipped with furniture, soft furnishings, white goods and kitchenware, ready for tenants to move into. Every property offered is newly decorated to a high standard, ensuring a homely and welcoming environment where tenants want to stay.
Pauline comments, “Our service users take an enormous pride in their new home, often adding their own finishing touches such as cushions and pictures to really make it their own.”
Floating support is provided through a dedicated Hestia service coordinator, offering person centred support. This could include support with all aspects of managing a tenancy, budgeting and rent payments and liaison with North Star’s welfare benefits officer to ensure they are claiming any back-dated benefits they are entitled to. Service users may also be supported to engage with other services, access recreational activities, education, volunteering opportunities and employment and build links in their local community.
Pauline adds, “From the point of referral, we work closely with all the involved agencies such as mental health and social care to identify any risks and draw up a risk management plan. We also link in closely with other local support services in the area such as the CAB and credit unions.”
The approach certainly works, helping women rebuild their lives and gain hope for the future. Says Pauline, “On average the support we offer is required for around 18 months but it’s enough to break the cycle of homelessness. It’s wonderful to see our service users’ self-confidence and self-esteem improve to the point that they can move on in their lives and start to live independently.”
AB was removed from the family home by Cleveland Police due to concerns regarding her safety. AB is of Pakistani descent, her marriage was arranged, and she moved to the North East to live with her husband and his extended family. During eight years of marriage AB was physically, financially and mentally abused. She was barred from using basic facilities such as the family bathroom and was told to bathe from a bucket of water, even after she gave birth to her daughter. She was beaten regularly by all the family with sticks, hands or pulling out AB’s hair and was made to cook and clean from 7am until 12 midnight every day of the week. AB managed to get to a phone one day and phoned 999, Police took immediate action, and AB was placed in a safe house. AB was unable to take her daughter, and it became clear that her signature had been forged on to numerous documents; one example is that AB’s signature was on a document which gave up her parental responsibilities, another was to claim carer’s allowance. All documents were signed fraudulently by the husband’s family, without AB’s consent. AB did not have basic living skills, she had had hardly any communication with the outside world, lacked confidence and was unable to do the most basic of tasks. With support from Hestia, AB is now going to the shops, paying her bills and will soon be awarded full custody of her daughter who is now living with AB full-time. The final custody hearing is pending.
Homes for Cathy hears from three member organisations that have played a role in getting Housing First schemes off the ground to discover the challenges housing associations face in making the model a success.
Developed in the US in the 80s and adopted with widespread success in mainland Europe, Housing First is an evidence-based approach to homelessness intervention that has gained significant momentum in the UK over the past three years.
Heralded as a solution to our growing rough sleeping crisis, the approach takes entrenched rough sleepers with high and complex needs off the streets and into permanent accommodation with intensive, tailored and open-ended support. Unlike traditional approaches to homelessness intervention, with Housing First no preconditions are placed on individuals, only a willingness to maintain their tenancy agreement. Individuals are not required to address any other needs they might have, or engage with other services, in order to keep their home.
The model has attracted high profile support; in 2017 Theresa May pledged £28 million to fund three regional Housing First pilots in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands, the Scottish government is investing £6.5 million in a three year Housing First roll-out and in Wales, £700,000 has been allocated by the government for Housing First schemes.
Aside from these pilots, many more Housing First schemes have been launched at local level – around two thirds of these have been funded by local authorities, usually through Housing Related Support budgets, according to Housing First England.
Social landlords have been called upon to help get schemes off the ground, by providing both accommodation and in some cases the wraparound support that is intrinsic to making the model work. However, the relative infancy of Housing First in the UK means the model represents uncharted waters for most housing associations, and many face a steep learning curve in establishing schemes.
Securing funding and pilot projects
Gaining board approval and securing funding is only the tip of the iceberg in what can be a lengthy process. Homes for Cathy member, Soha Housing, worked with its key local authority, South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC), which put up joint funding for a pilot project of six properties from Soha’s housing stock.
Maureen Adams, Soha’s Director of Services and Communities, comments:
“SODC helped establish a Project Board and provided access to homeless people with complex needs, suggesting ways to manage the risks and establish a framework that would be acceptable to homeless people, the local community, and politicians alike.
“We then worked with Aspire, a local specialist charity with expertise in homelessness and staff skilled in handling vulnerability and substance misuse, who provided extensive pre-engagement activity with service users.”
Stephanie Wood, Head of Supported Housing at Homes for Cathy member Sovereign Housing, which is involved with Housing First schemes in West Berkshire and on the Isle of Wight in partnership with charity Two Saints, says:
“Housing associations need to consider that it can take a very long time to get Housing First schemes up and running. A lot of work happens to get everyone on the same page before a person is housed, from identifying suitable people through to building their trust and getting their buy in. Every stakeholder in the project needs to be realistic about the timescales involved, particularly as there are usually multiple agencies working together.”
Establishing eligibility
Establishing eligibility is an important part of the process. While stakeholders involved in setting up schemes may have a good knowledge of individuals who would be suitable, in a multi-agency approach, ideas can differ.
Daniel Revell-Wiseman, Care and Supported Housing Contracts Manager for Hightown Housing Association, which is working with both St Albans District Council and Dacorum Borough Council in Hemel Hempstead to launch a Housing First scheme, comments:
“Working across areas can be a challenge, as in each area there can be differing needs in terms of who is a priority for housing. Having a strong criteria for the service is therefore essential in order to easily assess the individuals who could benefit the most.”
The longer timescales necessary to identify suitable tenants and carry out pre-engagement work can have ramifications for landlords in terms of the accommodation they have identified for schemes.
Daniel adds:
“To be true to the Housing First model, we should identify the service user first and then find suitable property. However, in reality, we have found possible properties before we have had referrals. It can be a challenge to have homes available at the point you need them – registered providers need to be prepared for longer void periods as a result.”
Flexible approach
Indeed, flexibility is key to making the model work – for Sovereign this was a matter of re-thinking pre-conceived ideas of what type of accommodation would be suitable.
Stephanie Wood says:
“Previously, we had set principles of what our Housing First homes should look like – for example, not in a town centre so service users could not go back to their old way of life. However, we’ve come to realise that the best type of accommodation is always very specific to the resident. Now we take time to match the accommodation to the individual, and although they don’t go through choice based lettings, we do offer them some flexibility about where they want to go.”
One of the biggest learning curves for housing associations is around formalising new processes and systems that meet the Housing First approach, establishing what is and what isn’t needed and adapting the existing mindset within their organisation.
Sovereign reviewed its tenancy agreement and tenancy sign up processes to better suit the Housing First model, making the meeting to go through the tenancy agreement a different day to the sign up itself. This approach has minimised potential distractions and allowed staff time to spend setting expectations, while giving tenants the opportunity to process the information and ask questions.
Sign up takes place in a neutral place other than Sovereign’s offices or the accommodation, to provide a less intimidating, less formal environment.
Stephanie adds:
“It’s all about gaining the trust of the tenant; they may have had a bad experience with a housing association or other service provider in the past, for example in a hostel the service provider runs.”
Once Housing First tenants are in their accommodation, flexibility around rent is also crucial to making the model work.
Comments Stephanie:
“We’re offering fixed term tenancies, so we’re carrying a big chunk of risk. Despite this, we have had to be more relaxed in terms of collecting rent. For example, we recently had a hiccup with a Universal Credit application – our income team reported that no application had been processed, but because the tenant was flagged up on our system as Housing First, we did not pursue the normal income recovery procedures.”
Measuring success
So far, all three housing associations report positive feedback from the Housing First schemes in which they’re involved, however with a model that centres on open-ended support, continued funding remains a key consideration.
Soha’s Maureen Adams concludes:
“Several months after the scheme was launched, Soha has housed 13 nominations and is moving people who would be difficult to house through traditional choice based lettings routes into homes where they want to live.
“It’s been an important new venture that staff and residents are backing, including our chief executive, who helped steer it through at board level. However, gathering evidence of the scheme’s success will be imperative, particularly as we plan to approach other public funded bodies to seek additional funding in order to extend the project. To this end, we have commissioned an independent evaluation by a social research agency to ensure we are adhering to the Housing First principles.”
For more information on Housing First, including guidance and toolkits for social landlords, visit Housing First England.
Is your organisation involved in a Housing First scheme? We would love to hear about your experiences, the challenges you have faced and advice you would give to other organisations looking to implement the approach. Email us at homesfor.cathy@hightownha.org.uk.
Commitment 7 of the Homes for Cathy commitments is to ‘ensure that properties offered to homeless people should be ready to move into’. According to Crisis’ ‘Everybody In’ plan to end homelessness, social housing properties offered without furniture and white goods, carpets and wall coverings deter people on low incomes from taking them up. This issue was consistently raised during the consultation process to develop the plan, as well as being highlighted by staff running homelessness services. Without the means to make social housing properties ready to move into, people on low incomes can often be pushed towards private rented sector properties; these might be equipped with furniture and white goods, but they offer less security and higher rents.
Commitment 7 is about encouraging housing associations to use their local networks to identify sources of cheap or free furniture or helping tenants to access affordable financing so they can make their own purchases. Homes for Cathy member Flagship Group, which manages and maintains over 28,000 homes in the eastern region, rose to the challenge on both fronts. The housing association recently partnered with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to create a trial ‘furniture scheme’ to provide vouchers for customers in need of necessary household items.
The idea for the scheme came from Flagship’s housing officers recognising that some families could benefit from having a home that was ready to move into, helping them reduce any initial expenditure.
The trial lasted six weeks and in this time 13 housing officers provided 22 vouchers to customers in need. The vouchers were redeemable at local BHF stores, giving customers the opportunity to choose their own furniture. The most requested items were white goods. The scheme provided £3,599 worth of necessary household items, over the six-week period.
One of the customers to benefit from the scheme was Miss Mongan, who was recently rehomed by Flagship Homes after being in refuge. As a single parent of two young children and in receipt of Universal Credit, she found it difficult to pay rent and save for a much-needed washing machine. Miss Mongan confided in her housing officer Paula, as she didn’t feel like she could do her job as a mother, having to hand wash her children’s clothes and bedding.
Paula said, “I didn’t want her to slip into arrears and I knew she needed help as soon as possible. I wanted to see if there was anything we could do and that’s when I contacted our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager. Miss Mongan was so thrilled when I gave her the good news and it was great to help someone in a difficult situation. I think this trial is great.”
Miss Mongan said, “It was a God send. I cannot thank Paula enough, she’s been fantastic throughout the process and has supported me since day one. Thanks to Flagship too, the washing machine has helped me out of big hole.”
Callum James, Flagship Group’s CSR manager commented, “It is great to work with the BHF and see so many benefits, particularly to our new customers who have recently been homeless. The trial was very successful in ensuring that our homes are ready to move in to, we’re exploring how we may be able to embed and sustain initiatives such as this longer term to make a real difference to our customers.”
For more information about the scheme, contact Flagship Communication Team on commsteam@flagship-group.co.uk.
Recent welfare reforms including the introduction of Universal Credit have made affording rent harder than ever in recent years. In response, many Homes for Cathy members have introduced tenancy sustainment initiatives, helping thousands of tenants facing financial hardship to stay in their homes. Homes for Cathy spoke to Christine Ashton, Executive Director of Housing at emh group to discover how the organisation is making sustainable tenancies its mission…
The shift towards ‘Housing First’ is a welcome and humane change in the way organisations respond to homelessness. But it makes sustainable lives, homes and tenancies more important than ever.
Securing a permanent home if you’ve been sleeping on the streets or living in temporary accommodation only counts as a success if you’re then able to use it as the springboard to a better and more settled life. There’s not much point in gaining the short-term relief of a property if your financial, health, family or other circumstances mean that you end up homeless again within a few months. Similarly, housing providers can’t expect vulnerable people with little or no experience of successful independent living to thrive in new tenancies without appropriate personal support.
A whole-organisation commitment
At emh group, we have business plan commitments to both help prevent homelessness and proactively address the impact of welfare reforms – with performance measures to check what difference we make. These top-level aims feed down into everyday decisions about who we house and the kinds of extra support we and our partners can offer to help people sustain their tenancies.
We do this through a detailed sustainability assessment toolkit, an in-house financial inclusion team and a network of partnerships with local money advice agencies, specialist services and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Together, these give previously homeless people the best chance of sustaining their tenancy. It’s an approach that maximises our ability to offer the intensive and wide-ranging kinds of help that so many people need.
The assessment starts well before someone is offered a home; as soon as we get details of a potential nomination from one of our 45 partner councils, or there’s an upcoming transfer or exchange. We consider each person according to a matrix that weighs up their disposable income against a dozen other personal circumstances to produce an overall risk rating for tenancy sustainability.
The checklist includes factors like age, mental and physical health, benefits entitlement and status, debts, previous tenancies and any history of drug or alcohol misuse, domestic violence or offending to help us objectively gauge each person’s prospects of success in an emh tenancy.
Based on this assessment, we mobilise different levels of support to give every new resident the best combination of housing and help. This varies from straightforward extra contact and checks by our neighbourhood teams, up to comprehensive input from agencies and networks specialising in money advice, family support, mental health or disability.
In exceptional cases, if we feel someone’s needs are more than we and our partners can cater for, we review the nomination – working with the person themselves and the council to explore the best option. We’re honest and up-front about our concerns, and do all we can to help them find a more suitable housing route. Everyone needs to live somewhere of course, but we’re clear about what we can and cannot do, and take our responsibilities for the safety of staff and comfort of other residents seriously. Above all, we want people’s tenancies to succeed.
Clear results
Through joined-up thinking and by targeting our time and resources onto the people we can help most, we’ve achieved some impressive gains, such as:
Doing more together
The scale and social impact of the homelessness crisis demands that we keep on seeking ways to do more. Collaboration is vital – from leasing properties to help local authorities meet their statutory duties to staff donating clothes, toiletries and other essentials to previously homeless people when they move in. Our teams also contribute to a lunchbox scheme, which makes sure that children get a decent midday meal during the school holidays. We’re supporting the National Housing Federation’s Hacking Homelessness project, which focuses on making better, data-driven decisions to prevent evictions. In one case, this monitoring showed that we contacted the resident 263 times to help them sustain their tenancy. And through case clinics, we constantly review how we could act differently or more quickly to help people achieve better outcomes.
We’re clear that it’s up to organisations like ours to take a lead, and believe that partnerships and imagination are the keys to success. We’re happy to share our experience and methods of what works for us, to free the next generation from the misery and blight of homelessness.
Christine Ashton
Executive Director of Housing
emh group
How is your organisation putting the Homes for Cathy commitments into practice at operational level? Share your ‘Good Practice’ story by downloading our template and emailing it to us at homesfor.cathy@hightownha.org.uk.
Evidence shows that there is a significant link between homelessness and mental health problems. According to Homeless Link, 80 per cent of homeless people in England reported that they had mental health issues, with 45 per cent having been diagnosed with a mental health condition. Research by Homes for Cathy member Evolve points to childhood trauma as a contributory factor – its ‘Breaking the cycle of trauma report’ found that 80 per cent of homeless customers surveyed had suffered at least one childhood trauma.
Mental health and homelessness can be a vicious circle, with homelessness causing mental health problems, and mental health problems often being the reason people become homeless. Sadly, homeless people can face considerable barriers in terms of accessing the mental health services that could support them. Many homeless people live with multiple and complex needs; this, combined with other factors such as the lack of a fixed address and even loss of confidence and self-esteem, can make it impossible for them to use traditional support systems.
Research by another Homes for Cathy member, the homelessness charity St Mungo’s, reveals that many homeless people ‘fall through the gaps in legislation and local services’, the result of a shortfall in locally commissioned services that actively target their needs.
Work is being done by Homes for Cathy members to address the issue. Charity Evolve, which provides supported housing to homeless people across London, is raising funds to provide free, in-house, non-location specific counselling services to its customers, making mental health support easily accessible for those who need it. According to its research, 76% of people who have accessed its service report better mental health and are more able to cope with life.
Debra Ives, Head of Operations at Evolve, says: “Counselling is one of the best tools for dealing with trauma but it must be available quickly to have an impact. Our counselling is free, on site and available irrelevant of where the customer moves to.”
Meanwhile, Hightown Housing Association’s Open Door homelessness service has partnered with local mental health providers Hertfordshire Mind Network and Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT), to deliver weekly support sessions direct to users of its shelter.
The scheme – announced to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week (13-19 May 2019) – will give the shelter’s service users direct access to care for mental health issues without the need to register with a GP, travel to appointments, or provide a fixed address and phone number.
Carla Watson, Open Door Scheme Manager, comments: “Imagine you lose your job, a loved one dies and you don’t have any savings. You are evicted from your home and lose most of your possessions. You’re now sleeping rough or staying in a homeless shelter. It feels like you are losing control of your life, your mental health is at an all-time low but you lack the confidence and self-esteem to seek help. You give up and accept things may never get better.”
“I saw first-hand how often this happens to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. At Open Door we decided that if things were going to change, we needed to persuade mental health services to come to us. The services are bookable and available on a one-to-one basis, but without a waiting list or the need to have fixed contact details.
“Another way people can fall through the cracks in services is if they don’t have a phone number, they can’t get an appointment. When the sessions are held at Open Door, we can encourage and refer residents on their behalf.”
Mental health charity Hertfordshire Mind Network is now offering mental health drop-in sessions at Open Door once a week to help service users with issues such as anxiety, loneliness and isolation, depression, anger and loss, while NHS provider HPFT will also run standalone mental health support sessions.
Carla adds: “It’s still early days but the appetite from residents to improve their mental health is there – we have had good attendance every week.
“This exercise has taught us a valuable lesson. If things aren’t working, be proactive, look for a solution and work in partnership with other organisations. Ultimately, it’s the people who matter most and we’re committed to fighting for their right to have the same opportunities as others to access vital services and improve their life.”
First published on Inside Housing, 6th March 2019
Broadland Housing Group joined Homes for Cathy back in 2016 when it was about marking the 50th anniversary of the first screening of Cathy Come Home and reminding people that homelessness is still a cancer in our society.
It was relatively safe to become members, beat the drum and perhaps feel warmly complacent about how much we were actually doing to address homelessness in our communities.
A year later, the anniversaries were over – Homes for Cathy members had held events, debates and plays nationally and locally to encourage politicians, professionals and communities to focus on homelessness.
“These actions are all about partnership working”
Collectively we had lamented the wrongs of the ‘system’ and called for meaningful changes to public policy. Was that it? Had we done what was needed or was the real work still to come? We concluded the latter.
In 2017, we opened up the Home for Cathy membership to any housing association frustrated about the increasing homelessness and willing to do something about it.
Working with Crisis, we developed nine challenging actions for housing associations to commit to that we believe will make a significant difference.
These actions are all about partnership working – not just with local authorities and policymakers, but most importantly with people at risk of homelessness and those who are already homeless.
We went to our board and asked them to commit to all nine actions, including the potentially more challenging ones, which for us were:
Preventing making tenants’ homeless means avoiding evictions for arrears that are hugely damaging, particularly children, and also expensive for us.
Where tenants positively engage, we will freeze arrears – subject to regular reviews and rent being paid in the future. When circumstances improve, a sustainable repayment plan is agreed. We hope that this will enable people to stay in their homes.
Regarding vulnerable groups, we decided to focus on single people – primarily under 35 – working with partners, we wanted to identify initially 10 properties for shared housing.
Working in partnership with Norwich City Council and St Martins, we proposed identifying six properties for a Housing First pilot so we can meet the needs of the homeless people locally.
Working with Norfolk County Council, we asked to make four properties available, at a peppercorn rent if necessary, for migrant families who have been judged to have no recourse to public funds while they resolve their situations.
The board has always supported our Homes for Cathy involvement, but we asked for a commitment that will cost us money and expose us to different risks.
I couldn’t take approval for granted but I got 100% support.
Our board felt the commitments helped deliver our social purpose and that, while the health of the balance sheet is vital, it is primarily a tool to deliver our purpose.
Michael Newey, chief executive, Broadland Housing Group
To hear more from our members on how they are implementing the Homes for Cathy commitments, join us at our annual conference. Book tickets here.
Rough sleepers in Croydon can now get emergency shelter at a Premier League football stadium in extreme weather conditions under a deal between the council and Crystal Palace FC.
The football club and Croydon Council have entered into an agreement where a lounge at Selhurst Park is turned into a temporary overnight shelter for up 10 rough sleepers whenever night time temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing.
Under the deal, people formally identified as rough sleeping are referred by outreach staff to Selhurst Park, where they are welcomed with a camp bed for the night, a hot evening meal, breakfast and washing facilities.
The space is converted back for normal club use each morning, when specialists from the council’s Gateway homelessness prevention service and Thames Reach support workers offer longer-term accommodation, financial advice and help with any medical needs to prevent these rough sleepers from returning to the streets.
The arrangement with Crystal Palace takes effect whenever London temperatures are forecast to hit zero degrees or colder, which triggers the council’s severe weather emergency protocol. This emergency shelter is in addition to rough sleeper referrals who go to the Croydon Churches’ Floating Shelter throughout the winter.
When Selhurst Park is unavailable because of home matches, the council will continue to refer rough sleepers to other emergency shelters in Croydon and central London.
Councillor Alison Butler, deputy leader and cabinet member for homes and Gateway services, said: “Freezing temperatures are a particular safety risk for rough sleepers and this is a wonderful gesture by Crystal Palace for helping us reduce that risk. I do hope that the actions and support of our local Premier League football club will encourage more businesses in Croydon to get in touch and do what they can to help us address homelessness. Crystal Palace are setting a standard for other clubs to follow.”
Crystal Palace Football Club chief executive Phil Alexander said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Croydon Council and their partner agencies to ensure that rough sleepers can find an emergency shelter in the event of severe winter weather. The club wants to be a force for good in the community and we are happy to do our bit to help those most in need. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who have given their time freely to make this happen, including club staff, as well as to Sainsbury’s Crystal Palace for donating food.”
Crystal Palace Football Club has a strong relationship with the charity Crisis. First-team stars Mamadou Sakho and Christian Benteke visited the Crisis Skylight Centre for homeless people in Croydon last month.
“My life was crumbling before my eyes and I felt helpless. The dedicated staff at Arlington believed in me and gave me the resources I needed to pursue my goals of getting back to teaching and serving the community.”
So says 47-year-old Leo, a teacher from Brazil. Having moved back to London after living abroad, Leo struggled to find work. Before long he found himself sleeping on the streets and struggling with depression. He moved to Arlington about a year ago after being referred to us by Focus Homeless Outreach, an outreach service for street homeless people and homeless people in hostels.
Since moving to Arlington, Leo has attended several of our training programs that have helped him to get back on his feet.
Training Coordinator, Santiago, worked with Leo to pursue his goals of being a teacher for children with special needs through a series of personal development training sessions. The Employment & Training service sponsored Level 1 and 2 of the Teaching Assistant programme. Leo passed both courses successfully, and is now working as a part-time teaching assistant at a school for children with special needs.
“Leo was keen to attend our training sessions and re-build his confidence after his mental health problems. He’s a proactive resident who loves to participate in our programmes and is great to have around”, commented Santiago.
Leo’s passion to get back into teaching and back to a steady life also excited one of our partner agencies, Beam. This is a new online platform that uses crowdfunding to get homeless people into training that will help them find good opportunities. Leo worked with Beam to set a target of £725 to cover his courses. Within a month, he attracted well-wishers to donate to his cause, making him the first successful member of Beam to get funded for the advanced level 3 programme of Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education.
Once completed, Leo will be eligible to look for full-time teaching work in the UK and move on from Arlington.