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To set aside up to £20,000 from the
council’s Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) to enable
supported housing providers in Cheltenham, like YMCA and P3, to
move their tenants on from their low-supported housing provision
into private rented accommodation, with the help of a deposit. (HPG
is grant funding provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities
and Local Government to help local authorities tackle
homelessness.)

Reasons for the decision

One of the council’s strategic housing
priorities, as set out in our Housing, Homelessness and Rough
Sleeping Strategy, is to make best use of existing housing within
the Borough.

This initiative, to enable residents to move-on from low-supported
housing, will help support our strategic housing priority by
widening the choices available for those who are ready to live
independently. At present, there is a risk of over-reliance on
general needs social housing to be the sole housing solution for
those who are ready to move-on into independent accommodation due
to the costs associated with accessing the private rented sector.
It is anticipated that by offering our local supported housing
providers funding to cover the cost of deposits to access this
sector, then this may help to reduce some of these barriers.

In addition, by increasing the accessibility of accommodation for
households seeking to move-on from low supported housing, it is
also anticipated that this will help households move through the
pathway into independent accommodation more quickly. This, in turn,
will help free-up low supported housing for households who are in
need of this type of accommodation, thereby making better use of
existing housing stock in the Borough.

Alternative options considered

1) Not to move forward with this initiative.
This is rejected for the reasons set out above.

2) The council could provide a deposit directly to the prospective
tenant, rather than via their support housing provider. This is
also rejected on the basis that low-supported housing providers
will be best placed to know which of their tenants are most likely
to sustain a tenancy in the private rented sector. The providers
will also be able to work with those tenants who are ready to
move-on to live independently, by helping them to identify and
secure suitable alternative move-on accommodation in this
sector.