Strategy for reducing
use of temporary
accommodation for
homeless people
Trends, predictions and
requirements 2014 – 17
Version7.0 February 2014
Strategy control sheet
Current document information
Status
Reference
Last reviewed
Sections amended since last version
Reason for change
Document type
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Directorate applicability
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Date
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Equality impact assessment record
Date
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assessment
conducted
Stage/level
completed
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Notes:
Legal influences on this strategy:
Housing Act 1996 (Part VII) as amended by Homelessness Act
2002
Localism Act 2011
Welfare Reform Act 2011
Non-legal influences on this strategy:
Other documents linked to this strategy:
Homelessness Strategy 2010 – 15
National Practitioner Support Service Gold Standard
Housing options pathway
Table of contents
Page
Section 1 Purpose
Section 2 Evidence of need
Section 3 Cost of temporary accommodation
Section 4 Predictions for the next 3 years
Section 5 Key actions required
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____________________________________________________________
Circulation
DLT (consultation)
Customer Focus Committee (adoption and information)
Homelessness & Move-on Team (team plan)
Strategy & Data Team (information)
Housing Accountancy (information)
Revenues (information)
1.
Introduction
Section 1 - Purpose of the strategy
The Housing Options Directorate requires a strategy to inform future
temporary accommodation (TA) requirements for the period 2014/15 to
2016/17 in relation to:
o
o
o
o
o
Types of TA
Location of TA
To inform the development of private sector offers including
Stepping Stones to Homes
To inform future procurement of TA
To inform future use and investment requirements at Hendra
Parc and Polruan hostels
Drivers for the strategy are:
o
o
Value for money for clients and Cornwall Housing/ Cornwall
Council
Ensuring sustainability of this statutory function given likely
funding pressures
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o
o
o
o
To ensure quality of accommodation
To support TA reduction by supporting development of other
options
No use of Bed and Breakfast (B&B) for families with children
except in an emergency and then for a maximum of 6 weeks
(Suitability of Accommodation Order 2004)
No use of B&B for any 16/17 year olds in accordance with best
practice
Scope:
The strategy relates to statutory homeless households to whom the Council,
via its managing agent, Cornwall Housing, has as duty or potential duty to
accommodate.
Section 2 – Evidence of need –
Use of TA 2010/11 – 2013/14
Table 1 below sets out Cornwall’s use of all forms of temporary
accommodation, using an annual snapshot (March). Table 2 breaks the
2012/13 occupancy down by TA type. The figure for 2013/14 is the
prediction based on actuals as at 31/1/2014.
Temporary Accommodation Occupancy
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20
13
/
13
20
12
/
12
20
11
/
11
20
10
/
Total Households in TA
405
345
444
421
5
Households in TA by TA type
totals
250
200
Total B&B
150
Self cont’d
100
Hostel
Refuge
50
PSL
0
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
ow n/RP stock
2013/14
Other
year
Table 2
Table 3 shows provision of TA by area, showing hot spots in demand,
linked to key towns. In some cases there are significant differences in
provision as compared to occupancy. Occupancy throughout 2013/14
across the main TA types are as follows:
TA type
Provision
B&B
PSL
Hostel
119
231
34
Average
Occupancy
75
200
19
As a
%age
65
86
55
TA provision by location
250
200
150
total
100
50
0
B&B/s-c nightly paid
PSL
B&B/s-c nightly paid
TOTAL
East
Mid
West
own stock/RP
Hostel
own stock/RP
Refuge/other
Table 3
Homelessness trends - Acceptances and Decisions
Over the period between April 2010 and March 2014 the number of
homelessness applications has varied, with a recent downward trend.
Predicting the trend for 2013/14 (based on quarters 1 - 3 performance)
indicates a marked decrease, which reflects the implementation of a new
structure within the service, with a strong focus on prevention and early
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intervention, and centralised management of homelessness, temporary
accommodation and move-on activity.
Rather than further drastic reductions in 2014/15 and 2015/16, it is
anticipated that homelessness activity will stabilise.
Homeless Decisions & Acceptances
1104
828
Decisions
896
649
524
497
2010/2011 2011/1012 2012/2013
498
Acceptances
202
2013-14
Table 4
Acceptances as a % of decisions
63%
59%
55%
41%
2010/2011
2011/1012
2012/2013
2013-14
Table 5
Using the 2013/14 projections, acceptances as a percentage of decisions
will reduce to 41%, which supports the stronger decision-making within the
Homelessness Team.
Section 3 Costs of temporary accommodation
The financial cost of temporary accommodation is contained in Tables 6, 7
8 & 9 below, and set out, by accommodation type, the gross and net costs
over the last two financial years. Reliable/complete cost information prior
to 2012 is difficult to obtain due to the differing Finance systems in use.
The equivalent costs data on the use of hostels is not currently available for
comparison.
In Table 6 gross costs are made up of the payments to B&B owners plus
the subsidy loss associated with this type of accommodation provision
(nightly paid B&B attracts 100% subsidy loss over a certain cost per night
threshold). The net costs are the gross costs, less any income derived from
Service Charges and Housing Benefit income.
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Costs of B&B provision
£2,500,000
Payments to
owners
value
£2,000,000
Subsidy loss
£1,500,000
Gross costs
£1,000,000
£500,000
£0
2013/14 predicted
2012/13
HB
income/service
charge income
Net costs
year
Table 6
Table 7 shows the gross and net costs of the provision of B&B over the last
two financial years on a ‘per night’ basis. It is clear that although use of
B&B has reduced significantly, this is still an extremely costly form of TA,
and future TA provision should minimise the use of this type of
accommodation.
value
B&B costs per night
£7,000.00
£6,000.00
£5,000.00
£4,000.00
£3,000.00
£2,000.00
£1,000.00
£0.00
gross costs p/n
net cost p/n
subsidy loss p/n
2012/13
2013/14 predicted
year
Table 7
Table 8 gross costs are made up of repairs, maintenance and void costs,
payments to owners, staffing costs and HB subsidy loss. The net costs are
the gross costs less and income derived from Service Charges and Housing
Benefit. Please note that in the PSL rental model, we are permitted to
charge a management fee per property, which is eligible for Housing
Benefit. As such, the predicted 2013/14 position anticipates a surplus of
around £200k, which subsidises other services within the Homelessness &
Move-on Service.
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PSL costs
2,500,000
R&M
2,000,000
payments to
owner
HB subsidy loss
value
1,500,000
1,000,000
Gross Costs
500,000
Income
0
-500,000
2012/13
13/14 projection
Net costs
Staffing costs
year
Table 8
Table 9 shows the gross and net costs of PSL provision on a per night
basis, demonstrating that this is a more cost effective model, which can
permit some income from its operation, to support service delivery. In
2013/14 the cost per night is in fact a positive income of around £500.
value
PSL costs per night
6,000.00
5,000.00
4,000.00
3,000.00
2,000.00
1,000.00
0.00
-1,000.00
gross cost p/n
net cost p/n
subsidy loss p/n
2012/13
13/14 projection
year
Table 9
Subsidy arrangements for temporary accommodation
Subsidy arrangements for TA are such that for self-contained and short
term leased accommodation (eg PSL), the maximum HB subsidy will be
determined by using 90% of the LHA rate for the size of the property plus
an element for management costs (£60 per week for local authorities
outside of London, £40 per week for authorities in London).
For those placed into non self-contained accommodation (board and
lodging or licensed), HB subsidy will be limited to the one bedroom selfcontained Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate based on the location of the
property.
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Local Authorities incurs 100% subsidy loss in any cases whereby the
charges exceed these limits.
These subsidy arrangements were put in place in 2011 and were due to end
on 31/3/2013.
In Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit Circular G10/2012 the DWP
confirmed that Housing Benefit subsidy for all temporary accommodation
cases would continue to be based on the “current arrangements” from April
2013 (as set out in Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit Circular S1/2011).
The Circular provides the following information on the treatment of housing
costs for temporary accommodation when Universal Credit (UC) is phased
in:
UC claimants housed in temporary accommodation will receive their housing
support as part of their UC. This will be based on the appropriate LHA rate
for the household. The management element for temporary
accommodation cases in UC will be separated out and paid directly to LAs in
order to protect this funding stream. We are still considering how the
separate management element will be paid for UC claimants, but our
preferred option is to provide additional funding through top-ups to LAs
discretionary housing payment (DHP) pots with a mechanism to reflect
changes in local caseloads. This is intended to be an interim solution to
protect provision and LA funding. We are looking to work with stakeholders
and other Government Departments on a long term solution.
All people claiming HB will continue on the current rules until the claim
migrates into UC. The migration timetable is still to be confirmed.*
*Full migration is not expected to be complete until 2017
The 2012 Welfare Reform Act raises concerns in terms of the impact of the
Benefit Cap on households in TA. The Government has confirmed that
Benefit Cap does apply to households in TA.
Section 4 – Predictions for the next 3 years
In order to make predictions around demand and supply over the next 3
years, external factors, local/internal factors and assumptions have been
considered.
Universal Credit (UC) – during the life of this strategy, it is not anticipated
that Universal Credit will be fully implemented in Cornwall. As such, there
is not an expected impact on demand in homelessness and TA. There will
be a small number of cases that will come into the County where citizens
have had UC applied to their circumstances and this may impact on the
affordability of accommodation, but this is likely to be negligible.
Local Housing Allowance, the benefit cap & wider welfare reform –
the benefit cap is primarily affecting larger households in the private rented
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sector and we work closely with Housing Benefits to assist any affected
households.
At this point, the availability of crisis funds and discretionary housing
payments alleviates some of the acute hardship in such cases. It is
assumed that there will continue to be such funding over the life of this
strategy.
The continuation of a form of subsidy for both emergency and leased
accommodation has been assumed.
The Localism Act – specified particular changes in relation to
Homelessness and Allocations. In terms of Homelessness, the Act contains
provisions to allow local authorities to discharge their homelessness duty to
an accepted household by securing an offer in the private rented sector
(minimum 12 months), without the agreement of the applicant. There are
considerations in terms of suitability of the offer and review rights exist. In
cases where the duty is discharged into the private rented sector in this
way, the duty may be re-instated if the applicant becomes homeless
unintentionally within two years of the original end of the duty. Cornwall
Housing has developed the Stepping Stones to Homes scheme as a direct
response to this change in legislation.
In terms of Allocations, the Localism Act also makes provision to allow local
authorities more flexibility to determine which households should be placed
on the Housing Register, based on local needs and policy. A separate
review of the Allocations (Homechoice) Policy is underway and should be
complete by September 2014. It is anticipated that the policy could change
the priority given to statutorily homeless households in favour of those
threatened with homelessness. Other authorities have implemented this –
and reports do not indicate that this has had led to increased homelessness
or poor move-on.
The Localism Act also included a requirement for local authorities to produce
a Tenancy Strategy, setting out how it will use the new flexible and fixed
term tenancies and Cornwall Council is currently finalising its Strategy.
Trends in homelessness – nationally, homelessness levels are increasing.
In Cornwall, this has been a reducing trend (see table 4 above). It is
expected that further efficiencies in local processes are possible and as
such, we will see a further slight decrease, and then a stabilisation in
demand (decisions/acceptances). Our structures and processes support a
strong homelessness prevention focus, and improvement programmes in
place during 2014/15 (linked to the peer review and Gold Standard) should
drive out the final efficiencies to enable us to measure true demand.
Move-on from TA - around 18% of all general needs lettings made via
Homechoice are made to statutorily homeless households. Around 5% of
moves are to the private rented sector (PRS). By developing SS2H, we aim
to increase the move-on to the PRS to around 25%.
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Budget pressures - given the significant savings to be made by Cornwall
Council during the life of this strategy it is likely that services (including
some statutory services) could reduce, as well as existing supported
housing schemes. Particularly complex and/or vulnerable people may be
put at further risk of homelessness. There is some scope to utilise the
forthcoming Homelessness Strategy (2015 – 20) to tackle some of the root
causes of homelessness in the county to make use of the most effective
strategic partnerships to strengthen the safety nets for key vulnerable
groups, whether via joint commissioning, effective partnerships/protocols or
direct investment.
Hostel review
Hendra hostel, Liskeard - demand figures indicate that this scheme is not
required in this volume and in this location. Analysis of demand shows
there are regular voids at the scheme, despite flexibility around the client
group accommodated here – the scheme accommodates families and
singles. The site has some options for future use, such as demolition for
redevelopment, or re-modelling, and this will be scoped as a potential
development issues.
Polruan Hostel, Truro - demand information shows that the scheme is
well-used, but the usage is currently limited to families only, due to
concerns about management and risk. However, the scheme is not fit for
purpose, in that the accommodation does not offer fully self-contained
units, and this falls short of current standards for temporary
accommodation.
There are some existing plans where re-modelling work has been scoped
out to develop self-contained units at the scheme, with a view to enable a
mixed client group for temporary accommodation in self-contained units.
Again, plans and costs will be revisited to bring forward the works to make
the scheme fit for purpose. The intention would be for the scheme to offer
short term, quick access accommodation to homeless households, whilst
offering some opportunities for flexible future usage, if homelessness
demand reduced significantly in the future (beyond the life of this Strategy).
Assumptions for the life of this strategy
•
That homelessness levels will decrease slightly in the next year, and
then stabilise
•
That the current subsidy arrangement for both B&B and PSL will
continue
•
That Polruan hostel will be remodelled, producing fewer units
•
That Hendra will be decommissioned, and replaced with fewer, ownstock units in the East
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•
That Stepping Stones 2 Homes will expand and permit a greater
number of offers to be made to homeless households in the private
rented sector
•
That the Allocations Policy will alter the priority awarded to statutorily
homeless households, but that this will not detrimentally affect moveon rates into social housing
•
That Universal Credit will not be rolled out during the life of this
Strategy
•
That the service will retain the same levels of staffing resource to
manage Homelessness, TA & Move-on Services
•
That some TA provision in the ‘other’ category may be decommissioned by Adult Care and Support due to budget pressures
Our predictions for TA requirements for the next 3 years are set out in
Table 10 below, by type. These figures also assume a throughput in
temporary accommodation based on moves into social and private rented
accommodation, as well as length of stay in TA reducing:
TA predictions 2014-17
500
B&B
totals
400
PSL
300
hostel
200
other
100
total
0
2014/15
2015/16
year
2016/17
Table 10
Based on the current costs of each main type of TA (B&B, PSL & Hostels)
there is a preference to make best use of both the PSL model (subsidy
arrangements permitting) and hostels and own stock, assuming the
provision is fit for purpose, with a suitable support model. A focus on
move-on is also an important feature of the service going forward, to
reduce length of stay in TA, as well as duty ending figures into the Private
Rented Sector as a routine option.
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Section 5 – Key Actions required 2014 - 17
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Developing the Stepping Stones to Homes private rented
scheme to enable homeless households to be offered moveon in this sector wherever possible to meet 25% move-on
target
Investing in hostel accommodation to make fit for purpose
and provide an exit strategy if demand reduces
Implementing the housing options pathway as an optimum
service model
Achieving the Bronze level within the Gold Standard
framework
Implementing the TA reduction plan
Prepared by:
Cathy Hadfield
8 April 2014
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Address
Cornwall Housing Ltd
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Cornwall
PL27 6TW
Telephone and Text
General enquiries and repairs: 0300 1234 161
Repairs (North East area): 01208 893489
Text: 07941 712 712
Email
General enquiries and
South East repairs:
[email protected]
Repairs (Mid):
[email protected]
Repairs (North East):
[email protected]
Website
www.cornwallhousing.org.uk
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