Homelessness prevention by City of Edinburgh Council

Multi-disciplinary team approach to engaging tenants at risk of eviction

The context

Homelessness caused by eviction for rent arrears from a Scottish local authority landlord consistently makes up just 1% of all households presenting for help each year. Traumatising for the tenant, a Council eviction is also costly to the public purse, especially the local authority which carries it out.

City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has had one of the country’s highest eviction rates for some years: in 2018-19, 129 households were evicted for arrears; 97 the year later. As those who become homeless in Edinburgh face one of the longest rehousing journeys in Scotland, finding ways to minimise the number of CEC tenants losing their homes due to arrears each year is particularly vital.

The intervention

In 2021, with rapid rehousing funding and taking inspiration from a successful project by Newcastle City Councilx, CEC set up a multidisciplinary team (MDT) with a remit to reduce arrears-related evictions. The team is based in the Council’s Advice Shop, comprising a team leader, dedicated housing officer, debt adviser and income maximisation officer. It’s informed by, and reports to, a steering group of social work, local housing and homelessness teams and the Council’s in-house housing support service.

Housing teams refer households who aren’t engaging with them and on whom they have served a notice of possession for arrears (up to the point a case is in court) into a multi-agency meeting. Not all households with a notice are referred, only those judged likely to proceed to court due to a lack of engagement. The MDT gets in touch with tenants, generally by text or ‘phone. They simply say they want to help and it’s likely there is a lot they can do. They ask tenants to sign mandates, enabling them to consult internal systems and external services. Though the Advice Shop is a Council service, its separation from the landlord/‘enforcement’ side tends to generate a different response from tenants.

The MDT completes a full benefit check, and the debt adviser, income maximisation and housing officers get individually involved if needed. The team tries to ‘get behind’ the reason for non-payment and offer advice, support and advocacy. In a small number of cases tenants may be withholding rent due to a repairs dispute. But most cases are more complex and need longer-term input, including referral to other services through a GP or social work, for example. The MDT works with tenants to put a plan in place, enabling them to negotiate with the housing team to salvage a home up to and including the point a decree has been granted.

The outcome

In its first year (2021-2022), 89 households were referred by locality housing teams to the MDT. Of those, 75% have engaged with the team, which is currently still working with 46 households. Some cases have been closed after the issue has been resolved, and the threat of homelessness removed (for example, a repairs problem, or a more straightforward benefits case).

The MDT continues to work with the majority of (more complex) cases to build trust and support tenants with appeals, complex debt, referrals to other services and legal issues. Of tenants supported, the team estimates homelessness is preventable in all cases. No tenant who’s engaged to date has been evicted, with five interventions at a late legal stage reversing the action and averting homelessness.

Key insights

setting up tenancies well from the start saves time, effort and expense down the line – such as direct help with benefit claims and a ‘warm handover’ from homelessness services (i.e. on support needs)
buy-in from locality teams is key: prevention should always be an option, up to the day of eviction
locality officers doing everything right may still find a small number of tenants won’t engage: a team whose role is nothing to do with enforcement can make inroads for this reason

Find out more…

Tracey Smith, Team Leader: Multi-Disciplinary Team, City of Edinburgh Council
tracey.kelly@edinburgh.gov.uk