BRISTOL%20CITY%20COUNCIL%20HOUSING%20OPTIONS%20

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BRISTOL CITY COUNCILHOUSING OPTIONS ADVICE
SERVICE

• Introductions
• Housing situation in Bristol

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Housing Options Advice Services

• The Hub
• Homeless Prevention Temporary Accommodation
• Housing Access Team
• Single Homelessness and Rough Sleeping
• Welfare Rights Money Advice Service

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Housing situation in Bristol

• Population of Bristol
• How many council properties
• How many do we sell each year
• How many new RSL properties built each year
• Net loss p.a.

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Housing situation in Bristol

• How many people on the waiting list
• How many are new applicants
• How many homeless applicants p.a.
• How many acceptances p.a.
• What are most common reasons for homelessness

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Homelessness Prevention and Accommodation Team

• Team Structure
• Functions and objectives
• Reducing BB use developing better alternatives
• Roles of the team
• Prevention work
• Accessing private sector accommodation

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Team Objectives

• Bring empty homes back into use
• Reduce use of BB unsuitable temporary
  accommodation
• Prevent homelessness (families and expectant
  mothers)
• Improve access to private sector tenancies
• Administer the councils furnished tenancy scheme
• Administer the Heading Home Forum
• Develop alternatives to BB
• Manage some emergency accommodation

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Reducing BB Use

• June 1996 20 households (11families)
• March 2001 95 households
• March 2002 146 households
• Feb. 2003 265 households (55 families)
• March 2004 213 households (17 families)
• Dec. 2004 105 households ( 6 families)

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Reducing BB - Key issues

• Government focus on families
• no families or expectant mums in for more than
• 6 weeks this target is now law.
• Family sizes
• Numbers of singles and their needs
• Lack of suitable temporary and permanent
  accommodation for singles
• Lack of Supporting People funds

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Developing Alternatives to BB

• FAMILIES
• Trinity Lodge Fortfield Road
• BCC emergency housing units
• BBs developing self-contained units
• A new family scheme ?
• Domestic Abuse Safe Houses (Next Link)
• Mother and Baby Homes
• Increasing access to the private sector

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Developing Alternatives to BB

• SINGLES
• Victoria Street Hostel Spring House Tollhouse
  Court
• Pipeline St Georges House (Young People)
• ClearSprings move on role
• Role of BHP Development Sub Group

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Roles Within the Team

• Housing Adviser (Empty Homes)
• Temporary Accommodation coordinator
• Housing Adviser (Family Deposit Bond)
• Housing Adviser (Furnished Tenancies)
• Emergency Housing Officer
• Heading Home Forum Worker

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Preventing Homelessness Families and Expectant
Mothers

• Currently a decentralised family homeless service
  shortly to change
• Central team of 5 Prevention Officers (including
  CEED Trainee)
• Outreach service to 3 Divisional Areas Easton
  (Central) Bedminster/Knowle (South) Henbury
  (North) not yet operational

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Homelessness Prevention (Families)

• Early intervention in cases of potential
• homelessness to enable families to retain
• their accommodation, or take another
• housing option, that prevents them from
• having to present to the local authority as
• homeless

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Why Prevention ?

• Government lead
• More cost effective
• Better service to clients more choice
• Diminishing social housing to respond to
  homelessness

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What is Prevention Work?

• Mediation between landlord and tenant
• Resolving tenancy issues HB problems
• Mediation in family disputes
• Advice, including money matters
• Offering other accommodation options, especially
  private sector
• Prevention Fund used on a spend to save basis

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Prevention is it successful ?

• 500 family cases closed since March 2004
• 387 (77) prevented from presenting under the
  homelessness legislation
• 127 found private sector housing
• 51 tenancies saved
• 200,000 saved because cases were not placed in
  BB

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Accessing Private Sector Accommodation

• LANDLORD INCENTIVES
• Deposit Bond Schemes Singles and Families
• Free Insurance (arrears and damage)
• Payments of deposit and rent in advance
• Grants for renovations
• HB support service

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The Hub Multi-Agency Advice Centre

• Opened 1995, with the key aims to
• Provide effective holistic responses to the needs
  of client groups
• Provide coordinated services e.g. housing, social
  services and health

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What Was Life Like Then?

• Relatively easy to obtain council accommodation
• Direct access hostels
• No housing benefit restrictions
• 20 people in BB
• One Homelessness Officer

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Whats Life Like Now?

• Much less council accommodation available (about
  5,000 homes lost)
• Priority access to hostels
• Housing Benefit restrictions
• Increasing property prices
• Drug use
• 100 single people in BB
• Massive increase in BB expenditure

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The Hub Tried to Carry On

• 7 Homelessness Officers
• Increased referrals to them from the front of
  house team
• Increased stress / sickness amongst staff
• Not workable

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Independent EvaluationThe Recommendations

• Cannot carry on with the same model
• Bring the front of house team into council
  management
• Develop effective monitoring systems
• Redefine Shelters involvement

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The Homelessness Prevention Agenda (ODPM)

• You cant help everyone
• Verification of homelessness and more home visits
• Homelessness Prevention Fund
• Reduced use of BB
• Homelessness Prevention Workers are the first
  point of contact

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Single Homelessness Rough Sleeping Team

• Commissioning
• We currently receive 720,000 in ODPM
  homelessness grant
• We use grant funds to purchase services which
  will meet Bristols 5 ODPM homelessness targets
  (currently 15 separate services.
• We work closely with service providers to alter,
  improve and monitor services

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Bristols Homelessness Strategy

• The team is responsible for
• Bringing together the strategy (published August
  2003)
• Coordinating the Strategy Action Plan
• Working in wide partnership to ensure that
  project developments meet Strategy priorities
• Facilitating a range of Homelessness Consortium
  meetings and forums

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24/7 Homelessness Assessment Centre

• The Purpose
• Provide coordinated multi-agency health,
• housing and support services, with
• Detailed needs assessments
• Client contracts and action plans
• Clear routes into appropriate services

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The Model
24 Short Stay, Intensive Support Hostel
Bedspaces
Night Centre
Flexible Day Services
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The Centre Will

• Bring together
• Focus
• Structure
• Build on and improve
• The services, skills, knowledge and expertise
• of a wide range of agencies, within a core of
• flexible day services, a Night Centre and
• dedicated intensive support hostel bedspaces.

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The Centre Wont Be

• A dumping ground
• The solution to everyones needs
• More housing
• Another Hub Advice Centre
• A replacement for other key services

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Housing Options

• Our Housing Options pack is on line now for you
  to use with clients
• We do not have enough LA properties for everyone
• We need every one to be more realistic about
  their housing aspirations

• There are lots of opportunities to access private
  rented sector tenancies
• Shared housing does work for many clients
• Private rented accommodation often available in
  areas where there is no LA stock