Leeds Homelessness Strategy

Leeds Homelessness Strategy

2012-15

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The Vision

Create opportunities and
choice to enable people to
stay in their homes or to find
alternative quality housing
options so as to minimise
homelessness in the city

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Introduction

The Council has had a legal
responsibility to develop a
Homelessness Strategy for Leeds
since 2003 and this is the fourth
such strategy produced for the city.

The writing of homelessness strategies has Effective homeless services make an
enabled the Council and partners to better important contribution to reducing the
understand the key homeless challenges resource burden on other statutory services
facing the city and to develop creative such as health, social care, the police and
and innovative options for tackling these the wider criminal justice system. The
challenges. There are a number of examples, strategy will highlight examples of this
some of which will be highlighted in the and set out how homeless services can
strategy, where homeless services have contribute to meeting wider priorities.
taken a lead on the preventative and ‘invest
to save’ agendas over the last 9 years. The strategy will cover the period between
April 2012 and 2015. The strategy will
The strategy is being developed within deliberately be much shorter in length than
the context of a significant increase in previous strategies, to promote accessibility
demand for homeless services combined and ownership, and will be framed around
with an unprecedented reduction in four priorities. There will be actions and
funding and other resources. The strategy targets linked to each priority. The strategy
will set out the Council and stakeholders’ action plan will be monitored on an ongoing
commitment to meeting these challenges basis through the multi-agency Leeds
through partnership, dialogue, creativity Homelessness Forum and will be updated on
and innovation. This is not a ‘big bang’ an annual basis.
strategy: the strategy will seek to build on
success to date and none of the priorities,
actions and targets are dependent on
securing additional government funding.
Rather, the focus is on how positive
outcomes can be achieved by making
better use of existing resources
especially through partnership and
dialogue.

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Priority One

Minimise new, long-term and repeat
rough sleeping and ensure that no
new rough sleeper needs to sleep
out for more than one night

What is rough sleeping? Leeds has been cited as an example of
national good practice for the CRI managed
People sleeping, or bedded down, Reconnections Service that helps destitute
in the open air (such as on the foreign nationals to return to their country
streets, or in doorways, parks or of origin if they choose to do so. In the two
bus shelters); people in buildings years up to May 2012, 113 people were
or other places not designed for helped off the streets of Leeds through the
habitation such as barns, sheds, car Reconnections Service.
parks, cars, derelict boats, stations
or temporary shelters (known as The government has published its rough
‘bashes’). sleeping strategy, ‘No Second Night Out’,
which is framed around the target that no
Rough sleeping is the most acute and new rough sleeper should need to sleep out
overt form of homelessness. Leeds has more than one night. Leeds intends to meet
been successful at reducing the number this target by increasing the number of early
of people sleeping rough in the city from morning ‘street sweeps’ from 3 to 6 per
approximately 50 per night in 2009 to week and establishing a ‘Hub’ at St George’s
between 5 and 10 per night in May 2012. Crypt where rough sleepers can stay for up
Nevertheless, the Council and partners are to 72 hours whilst a housing option is found
determined to further reduce rough sleeping for them.
numbers.
Leeds will be concentrating on preventing
The success can be largely attributed to people ending up on the streets: 70% of
the Supporting People investment in the people identified as sleeping rough in the
Crime Reduction Initiative (CRI) managed city have never previously slept rough.
assertive outreach service, finding people It is intended to expand the assertive
on the streets and then swiftly securing outreach model to local police custody
them housing options, and the development suites and prisons given the link between
of partnering arrangements between the rough sleeping and offending. This will be
Council, police and fire service, and the government funded as Leeds is one of two
voluntary and faith sectors. areas chosen to pilot initiatives to reduce EU
national offending and rough sleeping.
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The Council and partners will look at
options for attracting future funding, such
as Social Impact Bonds, to further reduce
homelessness, offending and drug usage.

Actions: Case Study: ZR was 23 and from

• Expand assertive Hungary. He was taken into custody
outreach service to from after being found walking along the M62,
3 to 6 street sweeps per week and into attempting to get to Manchester.
prisons, hospitals and other routes into He had come to the UK after receiving promises
rough sleeping. of work and accommodation from an ‘employer’
known to be involved in trafficking and exploitation.
• Establish ‘Leeds Hub’ at St. George’s Crypt.
It emerged he had a learning disability and a
• Develop the West Yorkshire mental capacity 50% below average. Having been
Reconnections Service including brought up in care, he was known to social services
exploring funding opportunities around in Hungary, and had experienced several bouts of
Social Impact Bonds. homelessness during his adult life.

• Deliver the Communities for Local Police referred him to the West Yorkshire
Government funded EU Prisoners Pilot. Reconnections Service who made contact with
his legally appointed guardian in Hungary. ZR
• Build on the success of the Reconnections had family there who were eager for him to come
Service by looking at further opportunities home. He also had accommodation that was
for regional joint working. available for him.

• Help long term rough sleepers to come ZR was found temporary accommodation. He was
off the streets by using the ‘Hard to fed and visited everyday until a flight to Hungary
Accommodate Panel’ and Rough Sleeper Co- was booked and he could return home.
ordination Panel to look at housing options.

Case Study: MB was a Targets:

council tenant. Although he had • Every person accommodated at
previously been a long term the ‘Leeds Hub’ will be found a
rough sleeper and prolific drug housing option within 72 hours.
user and offender, he had managed well in
his tenancy for a number of years until he • No new rough sleeper will need
began to be targeted for money by a known to sleep on the streets for longer
associate in the area. than one night.

He began staying care of friends and • Every rough sleeper who refuses a
sleeping rough to avoid returning to the housing option will be the subject
property and his offending quickly increased. of a ‘Hard to Accommodate’ Panel
case conference within one week
A case conference took place with various of the housing option refusal.
agencies and statutory services attending.
The services worked together to find a new
supported housing option for MB and his dog.

The service specialises in providing services
for people with substance misuse issues.
He is still there and continues to make good
progress.

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Priority Two

Maximise homeless prevention
outcomes by building on current
success and finding new opportunities
to prevent homelessness

What is prevention? The new Homelessness Strategy reaffirms
the Council’s commitment to these homeless
Homelessness prevention is assisting prevention initiatives. Although it is recognised
a person to remain in their own that homeless prevention activity generally
home or help them find alternative requires proactive face to face intervention on
accommodation in a planned way – the part of the Council or partner organisation,
‘staying put / planned move’ there may also be opportunities to deliver
‘passive prevention’. This is where a person
The first Leeds Homelessness Strategy resolves their housing issues without speaking
in 2003 established the city’s focus on directly to a worker, usually through the
maximising homeless prevention activity and provision of web based information.
outcomes.
The Council’s Housing Service is also determined
Examples of homeless prevention initiatives to maximise ‘homeless prevention through
include the Sanctuary Scheme which is partnership’. For example, although there
a partnership between the Council, West are many reasons for a child to be taken into
Yorkshire Police and Safe Partnership Limited. care, if resolving a family’s housing difficulties
Sanctuary helps people experiencing domestic contributes towards a positive outcome for a
violence or hate crime to stay in their home, family, then everything will be done to find an
where they choose to do so, through installing appropriate housing solution. Housing advice,
security measures. such as helping a tenant to address their rent
arrears, could help to save a tenancy.
Since 2007, over 2000 households have
been helped through the scheme. Other Access to private rented housing is a key
schemes including the youth mediation element of the city’s homeless prevention
service (managed by Foundation Housing) programme. There is little doubt that welfare
and a private sector lettings scheme are also reform represents a significant challenge in
examples of homeless preventative initiatives. helping people remain in their current tenancies
The Council also manages a Homeless or secure new tenancies. The Council will
Prevention Fund that can cover the cost continue to work with private landlords to put
of prevention interventions where the cost in place packages of support and (financial)
is lower than that incurred when a person assistance that provide incentives for landlords
becomes homeless. to offer tenancies to people who are homeless
or threatened with homelessness.
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The Council will also talk to private landlords
to find ways to encourage longer fixed-term
tenancy lets.

Actions: Case Study: RC has lived in her council

• Develop ‘passive tenancy with her two children since 2006. Her
prevention’ services with ex-partner was violent towards her and was
an emphasis on web based placed in a bail hostel.
information and
stakeholder training Despite restrictions in place preventing him
from returning to the property, the ex-partner
• Maximise ‘prevention through was struggling to cope in the hostel and advised
partnership’ opportunities through numerous people that he intended to return to
case conferencing, training, named the property.
officers and shared priorities.
He was assessed as being a high risk to RC. A
• Engage with private landlords to referral was made to the Sanctuary Scheme
continue to develop the private rented putting in place extra security measures,
‘housing offer’ with an emphasis on enabling the family to stay in their home. They
longer term tenancies and property remain there to this day.
inspection.

• Review procedures relating to the
Youth Mediation Service including
permitting under 16s to access the
service.

• Establish a ‘Tell How It Is’ project
delivered to schools and youth services
by formerly homeless young people.

• Use the Homeless Prevention Fund to
complement prevention action being
taken by other services.

Case Study: DF was a Targets:

grandmother with full time care • Minimum of 4,000 homeless
responsibility for her four year old preventions in 2012/13.
granddaughter who was severely disabled.
• Minimum of 700 private rented
Due to complications in being rehoused by lettings.
the authority, DF took a private let that she
could not afford but it met the needs of her • Minimum of 400 Sanctuary
granddaughter. Arrears accrued and DF was installations.
issued with notice to quit by her landlord.
• Minimum of 270 young people
A case conference was convened, where all helped to return home through
relevant agencies attended (Children’s Social mediation.
Work Services, ALMO, Adaptations Agency).
The identified housing solution was that
Housing Services agreed to pay the rental
shortfall from the Homelessness Prevention
Fund pending the family being rehoused.

The family have now been rehoused into
a new build property that was purposely
adapted for their needs.

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Priority Three

Minimise the use of temporary
accommodation and deliver an
effective and modern programme
of housing support

What is housing support? Homeless households in the city
overwhelmingly express a preference for
Services aimed at promoting independent self-contained/dispersed rather than hostel
living through the provision of support, accommodation. The Council since 2000 has
such as: been using private landlords as a source
• Sheltered housing of temporary accommodation. This will
• Hostels for homeless people continue but at the same time the Council
• Floating support to enable people to is determined to drive up standards of
repair and housing management in privately
carry on living in their own home. sourced temporary accommodation.

The Council has a duty to secure suitable The quality of temporary accommodation
temporary accommodation for any homeless is not solely about standards of repair and
household that is owed a housing duty. management. It is also important that
housing support providers work proactively
The Council, through the Supporting to help people get re-housed as quickly as
People programme, commissions a range possible including options in the private
of temporary accommodation and floating rented sector. It is also important that the
support services. The government reduced Council makes timely decisions on priority
Supporting People funding by approximately awards to facilitate re-housing.
£10m (33%) in 2012/13. The reduction in
government funding was partly offset by The Council is clear that temporary
the Council committing £7m from other accommodation options such as bed and
resources to the Supporting People budget. breakfast can never be suitable and must
Nevertheless, the funding position relating only be used in exceptional circumstances
to supported housing position remains where no alternative is available. Delivering
extremely challenging. suitable supported housing options for
groups such as young people is also a key
Delivering a modern programme of priority for the new Homelessness Strategy.
temporary accommodation and other
supported housing services is a key action in
the new Homelessness Strategy.

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Temporary accommodation

The figures below show the most recent figures
(Q1 2012/2013) for Leeds and two other major
authorities, in terms of how many households they
have accepted a homeless duty to and how many
are currently in temporary accommodation:

Authority Duty In temp Preventions
accepted accommodation

Leeds 218 141 719
Sheffield 299 167 275
Birmingham 1019 784 955

Estimate household numbers Leeds 334k, Sheffield 230k, Birmingham 406k

Actions: Case Study: JA was a

• Complete the seventeen year old care leaver.
Supporting People He had a history of homelessness
sector review of services for from a young age. Having lost a
homeless and young people. number of temporary accommodation placements
through his own actions, he found himself roofless.
• Ensure all homeless
assessments for people in An emergency case conference was convened, with
temporary accommodation are representatives from Housing, Supporting People,
carried out in a timely way. Children’s Social Work Services and Youth Offending
Team in attendance. All agreed that although the
• Through the Supporting behaviour that resulted in JA losing his accommodation
People contract management was not acceptable, he was still a vulnerable person
process ensure that and needed as much help as possible.
re-housing options are
secured in a timely way. A supported housing vacancy was identified. This
was in a project specifically for young people
• Develop joint working protocols experiencing difficulties. He was
with the Leeds ALMOs including placed over a weekend in
void property turn-around times. alternative temporary
accommodation but
• Explore options for better meeting then moved into the
the housing needs of young people supported lodgings the
with Children’s Social Work Services following week.
including making use of obsolete
sheltered housing services. Targets:

• Use case conferencing to find • No more than 150 households
housing options for vulnerable owed a housing duty in temporary
people. accommodation by the end of March 2013.

• All households owed a housing duty are
secured temporary accommodation on the
same day they request it.

• Bed and Breakfast accommodation only
used in exceptional circumstances and
then for no longer than 1 week

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Priority Four

Establish equitable and reciprocal
partnering arrangements, with a range of
stakeholders and services, underpinned by
a culture of case conferencing

Case conferencing • Ensuring that services for homeless
people do everything they can to
There should be nothing safeguard vulnerable adults and children.
complicated or mysterious about
case conferencing. It is simply all These priorities will be achieved through the
relevant stakeholders meeting up, development of shared service improvement
acknowledging challenges but never plans where stakeholders across the health
seeing them as insurmountable. It is and social care fields sign up to common
about understanding what each other priorities, actions and targets. Embedding
can do, looking at different options a culture of case conferencing will underpin
and finding housing solutions. the work that flows from this commitment to
partnering.
There have been many successful outcomes for
dealing with housing issues such as preventing Actions:
homelessness and reducing temporary
accommodation placements. However, it is • Establish a
clear that more needs to be done to achieve Children’s Housing
wider health and social care priorities relating Fund to supplement the
to homeless people. For example: Homelessness Prevention Fund

• Finding housing options for families • Establish ‘taster tenancies’ for young
who are homeless or threatened with people leaving care
homelessness so that children do not
need to be placed in care or can leave a • Establish a ‘Tell It How It Is’ project
care placement.
• Develop a case conferencing culture
• Helping prepare young people to leave and establish ‘Stuck Cases’ Panels
care and/or making young people aware
of what housing options are available if • Review the current procedures
they become homeless. relating to youth mediation, including
whether under-16s can access the
• Ensuring no person is unnecessarily kept service
in hospital because they are homeless and
there are no suitable housing options for • Develop the ‘Housing Pathways’
them at the point of discharge. model, an Accessible Housing
Register and Prevention Fund for
12 Disabled People.

• Develop and implement a Housing
Safeguarding Plan.

Case study: AM is a Slovakian mother with

three children. She was ineligible for Council
housing, as she had never worked in the UK.

She was detained in hospital under the Mental
Health Act. Her children were in foster care
costing £2,400 per week.

Following a case conference, the Housing Service agreed
to pay her private rented bond and Children’s Services
agreed to pay rent for a minimum of 6 months.

AM was discharged from hospital. She was able to move
into settled housing and reunited with her children.

This ‘prevention intervention’ was a fraction
of the combined costs of keeping her
children in foster care and her
staying in hospital.

Case Study: LR was six months old. Targets:

He was in foster care, having been removed • Any child or vulnerable adult
from his mother’s care. placed in care as a result of
inadequate housing made the
Children’s services met LR’s father and subject of a multi-agency case
assessed that he was able to care for him. conference.
Unfortunately, he was staying with friends
and family at different addresses. LR could • No delayed hospital discharges
not return to his care until he had secured as a result of inadequate housing
permanent accommodation. options.

Dad found a potential address via a website. • No household with dependent
Housing Services agreed to pay the deposit, children evicted from an ALMO
and Children’s Services agreed to cover a managed tenancy without a prior
potential rent shortfall. case conference on alternative
housing options.
This was all confirmed in writing to the
landlord. Within five weeks of the initial
referral, Dad got the keys to his property.

The process of LR gradually returning to his
Dad’s full time care began.

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Going forward

The Council will continue to concentrate
on the priorities outlined in this strategy.
Going forward, partnership working is
even more important to prevent and
tackle homelessness.

The Council along with its partners will actively
encourage a joint approach which focuses on working
together to solve problems and pool resources.
The multi-agency Leeds Homelessness Forum will
continue to monitor the Strategy. The Homelessness
Forum will consider the progress made during the
year and will be actively contributing to setting new
priorities and targets for the future.
In these times of reducing public funding and
challenging welfare reforms, it is more important
than ever to ensure that homeless prevention
remains at the top of the agenda and that through
close partnership working, the homelessness
service provided by the Council, is effective
and provides a high quality service in
order to improve the lives of those
people faced with homelessness.

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Housing Policy Team
2 Great George Street
Leeds
LS2 8BA
Tel 01132 224412