Sustain PRS
Project
Interim findings
Spring 2012
About Sustain
• A longitudinal (3 year) research project
• Qualitative ‘in depth’ research
Topic
• About people who have been resettled into PRS
accommodation after having been homeless
• Interviewed three times: at start of tenancy, at 6-8 months and
and 15-18 months
• Focused on their experiences
Research questions
• What are their outcomes and what influences their outcomes?
• How does living in the PRS impact wellbeing?
Who we talked to
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171 people
86 Families with children (72% lone
parents)
85 Single households (36% were
parents)
One person in each household
Age range: 18-60
93 women, 78 men
65% White British
28% non-UK country of origin
35% Black and Minority Ethnic
96% Heterosexual, 4% Homosexual
People in three areas:
• Greater Manchester (e.g. Stockport,
Bolton, Rochdale)
• East & South East London (inner and
outer boroughs)
• East Sussex (e.g. Brighton, Hastings,
Eastbourne)
Mixed recruitment through:
• Local Authorities (99)
• Support agencies (72)
• Self referrals (5)
1 Shelter Client and 5 Crisis clients
All underwent resettlement support
or approached agencies to receive it
Found participants with different
types of support
Referrals across each region
E and SE London Greater
Manchester
East Sussex
27 Local
authorities
42 Local
authorities
27 Local
authorities
27 Support
agencies
16 Support
agencies
27 Support
agencies
5 Self-referral
Interim findings from first round of
interviews
• Topic – participants’ experiences and how they feel.
Self-reported feelings about housing situation at
time of being interviewed.
• Focus – post entry into PRS rather than route to
PRS. Not an evaluation of types of support.
• Scope – Findings relate to a third of data that the
study will gather. As research progresses more
detailed, thematic analysis will be conducted.
First Interviews - topics we discussed
• Past – why do people move into the PRS?
• Present – what are the places like they live now?
• Future – what are people worried about, what do
they prioritise? What do they want?
Before moving into the PRS (this time)
All in recognised states of
homelessness or housing
need
Many problems directly
connected to housing
conditions or circumstances:
• Poor conditions
• Landlord problems
• Rent arrears
• Being given notice
Some personal
• Relationship breakdown
A lone parent with two children became
homeless due to rent arrears. Although her
rent had been paid direct to the landlord
through Housing Benefit, she had triggered
a re-assessment of her Housing Benefit
claim through taking on some part-time
work. This meant an alteration in her job
seeker’s allowance (JSA) and a
suspension of her Housing Benefit. She
did not realise, and because the Housing
Benefit had been paid directly to the
landlord, she was only alerted to the
problem once three months of arrears had
accumulated. Her landlord evicted her and
became aggressive, refusing to give her
rent deposit back. In trying to find a new
flat to live in with her children, she was
asked for a guarantor but didn’t have one.
Without a deposit or a guarantor, and with
a bad credit history, she had few options.
The local authority managed to re-house
her in a new PRS property using their rent
deposit scheme.
How participants got into housing
need
• Overcrowding or sofa surfing in past housing.
• Problem with past housing or past housing
provider.
• A relationship breakdown, culminating in:
– a move away from domestic violence
– repeat homelessness.
• Exiting from an institution
Type of support
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Participants from a range of voluntary and statutory agencies in each region:
– Being given a letter saying options have been explained.
– Bond scheme – no money exchanged, but underwrites some of the financial risk for
the landlord.
– Checking tenancy documentation – making sure there is a contract/ valid contract.
– Continuing support after moving in – being checked on, resolving problems.
– Counselling or courses on how to manage a home.
– Fast track/help with Housing Benefit – local authority assistance on urgent moves.
– Floating support/home visits – help to set up, visiting to help with
needs/tenancy/education.
– Furniture finder/pack – home pack (eg crockery set or cutlery.
– Furniture storage (eg if becoming homeless and living in temporary accommodation
for a period).
– Landlord liaison/negotiating terms with landlord/agent (eg making arrangements,
which landlords who are reluctant to accept Housing Benefit clients might accept, such
as monthly inspections/rent paid directly).
– List of landlords –phone numbers and names.
– Property finder/property checker – find property for the tenant.
– Providing transport for moving – supply a removal van
– Rent deposit scheme – provides a rent deposit to the landlord.
Finding help
• People have limited knowledge about sources of help for people in housing
need and generally find it hard to find support.
• Types of support offered to people in housing need varies considerably, by
region, organisation and by person, regardless of need
• Specific barriers people faced when approaching local authorities for
support, especially if they were a single household, were in debt or didn’t
have any ID
• When people were given specific support to move into the PRS they were
more likely to feel positive when they had received a higher level of
support, for example if helped to find a PRS tenancy rather than being
given a list of landlords
• People had a limited understanding of the support they received to move
into properties and in some cases the implications of accepting it. This
involved not being aware of the legal implications of support until after they
had accepted the support, such as having duty for them discharged.
“They were amazing for this whole scenario... like the help that they gave me
was brilliant; it was second to none, really... Like they’ve got contacts within
the letting companies who understand - the landlords that understand the
situation - you know, of a deposit, or the month’s rent - there might be
problems and that. But like I was quite lucky because I had a brilliant
reference, obviously from my past landlords, I had a guarantor; I managed to
get a Crisis loan for my first month’s rent, and the landlords are letting me pay
my deposit off in instalments. And that was all arranged, pretty much, by
[support agency] for me.”
Decision-making
• Most people moved into the PRS because they felt there was no other
choice but to do so. They had been told they would be unlikely to access
social tenancies or were refused help by the local authority.
• People found it hard to access tenancies on their own because of a
number of barriers. These included not having a rent deposit, landlords
not taking housing benefit claimants and/or not accepting rent deposit or
bond schemes, not having a guarantor and property scarcity.
• Supply of PRS accommodation differed by region and affected peoples
decision-making behaviour. More choice in Greater Manchester meant
that people tended to chose properties based on area. People found it
so challenging to find a property in London that they were often forced to
take the first place they could afford in order to avoid being homeless.
• People often accepted the first place they could find where a landlord
accepted their application. As a result some moved into unsuitable
homes or unsuitable areas.
“I actually gave up because I just couldn’t find
anywhere that would do the rent deposit
scheme or take on DSS, and the [council’s]
Housing found me nothing, or even tried, I
don’t even know. And then I decided to move
areas, decided to come to [London borough]
’cos all my family’s down here. But even then
that was hard as well because again no-one
would take DSS or rent deposit. And I only
found this place ’cos it was up on the internet
that first day”
Life in the property now
• Having to take any available tenancy had negative impacts on
people’s lives. For example, for many this meant moving areas,
which disrupted their children’s schooling.
• Available furnishings had an impact on the way people lived their
lives and managed their costs. Some people had very little or no
furniture and reported sharing beds.
• Some people did not have or could not rent somewhere with white
goods such as fridges and freezers. This impacted their budgeting as
being without these items limited the way they could plan and
manage their food and financial resources.
• People reported having difficult choices about how to manage their
finances, including reporting going without heating, electricity or food
when prioritising costs for their children or paying the rent.
I couldn’t get any type of financial
help, so now I am in a house with two
children when I don’t even have a
fridge freezer, a washer, I don’t really
have anything. I have one bed, one
single bed that we are all sleeping in,
it’s not really good. I wish I could
have had more help there, rather
than them saying ‘right here’s your
house, now you are in it’. I wish
someone could have helped me and
given me a bit of a lifeline, even if
they could have given me a bit of
furniture.’
Sustainability of their accommodation
and hopes for the future
• People felt that their housing was a ‘stepping stone’ in improving
their lifestyle and wellbeing.
• People were generally positive about the future and were relieved
they were no longer homeless. They wanted to improve the
properties and make them feel like home.
• People wanted to achieve housing stability and felt that this would
lead to lifestyle stability. They felt that having a place to stay in the
long term would benefit their ability to plan for the future and find
work.
• People wanted to stay in their tenancies but were concerned about
being able to do so. They were worried their landlords would put
the rent up or evict them. This was a barrier to them considering
their tenancies ‘home’.
“Just really being stable and establishing
community ties really, and feeling that I don’t
have to move around again. Just being
stable, it’s important that I’m not uprooting
myself or the children again, everything
changes when you uproot, you have to
change schools, you have to change phone
numbers, you have to change address, you
have to contact the utility companies. It is
horrid and I don’t need to go through that
again, I need to stay put so I can plan out
the rest of, the next few years. If you are
uprooted how can you plan? Your planning
is limited so it is really important that I stay
here for as long as I possibly can.”
What next?
• Interim report due to be published later in the
spring
• Wave 2 interviews currently underway – half way
through
• Long term project seeks to:
– Create evidence on the sector
– Outline support and policy recommendations
Contact us on [email protected]