Content

To set aside up to £20,000 from the
council’s Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) to prevent
homelessness by supporting households who have fallen into
financial hardship. (HPG is grant funding provided by the Ministry
of Housing, Communities and Local Government to help local
authorities tackle homelessness.)
This funding will be used to support households with rent arrears,
including former tenant arrears, with a view to helping them secure
(or retain) settled accommodation.
To ensure this initiative supports those who have fallen into
genuine hardship, a number of measures will be introduced,
including:
• The Housing Options Service being satisfied that an
applicant’s financial hardship has come about for reasons
other than wilful neglect. (Examples of wilful neglect include:
having sufficient income to meet their essential outgoings and
having no support needs; having support needs but failing to
address those needs by refusing to engage with relevant support
agencies, etc.).
• A requirement for the applicant to accept debt and/or
budgeting advice, and to continue to engage with other support
agencies, as appropriate, and that any other remaining debts are
manageable.
• The Housing Options Service being satisfied that, as a
result of this intervention, the applicant will be able to secure,
or retain, ‘settled’ accommodation (i.e. accommodation
will be available for at least the next 6 months).
• That the applicant participates in a 6-month review with the
Housing Options Team, to evaluate the overall effectiveness of this
initiative.

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 prevent homelessness. This initiative will
help support this strategic housing priority by widening the
options available to the Housing Options Service to prevent
households from becoming homeless. In particular, this initiative
will help remove some of the barriers households in financial
hardship can face when seeking accommodation via Homeseeker (i.e.
the council’s Choice Based Lettings Allocations
Scheme).
Whilst the council wishes to prevent homelessness wherever
possible, it is important that we also ensure that any support we
provide goes to those households who have fallen into genuine
financial hardship, rather than as a result of any wilful neglect.
Households who may benefit from this initiative will therefore
include, for example: those who have become trapped in a coercive
relationship where financial decisions have been made for them;
those who have experienced a drop in income and have been unable to
adapt quickly to these changes; and those who have experienced a
deterioration in their mental health and/or support needs,
resulting in a weakened ability to manage their financial affairs
effectively. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list.
The aim of this initiative is to help break the cycle of financial
hardship and homelessness, rather than being simply a ‘quick
fix’. Applicants will be expected to receive support from
relevant agencies where necessary, such as debt and money/budgeting
advice, and to complete a 6-month review with the Housing Options
Team to evaluate the overall effectiveness of this initiative in
preventing homelessness.
To gain as much value from this initiative as possible, the Housing
Options Service will implement the following criteria:
• An applicant will be assisted only once through this
initiative;
• Any requests for assistance over the value of £1,000
will require approval from the council’s Housing Options
Manager;
• There will be an overall cap of £2,500 for each
applicant, unless there are exceptional circumstances, to be agreed
by the Housing Options Manager in consultation with the Head of
Strategic Housing.

Alternative options considered

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