Homelessness prevention by Comhairle nan Elean Siar & Hebridean Housing Partnership

 An earlier & enhanced Section 11 process

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The context

Placing legal duties on other public bodies to prevent homelessness comes from an understanding that people facing housing problems often interact with other services before presenting at local authority housing options teams. England’s 2018 Homelessness Reduction Act placed duties on certain public bodies to refer people at risk of homelessness in the next two months to housing options, affording Councils earlier opportunities to prevent crisis. Those public bodies include Housing Associations (Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in Scotland).

In Scotland, a referral mechanism between RSLs and options services has existed since 2003 (in law) and 2009 (in effect). But in practice, Section 11 has served more as a tool for notification of homelessness than its prevention. North and Islands Options Hub’s 2019 pilot with Scotland’s Housing Network (SHN) aimed to turn that around, with very positive impacts realised in the Western Isles.

The intervention

In planning its rapid rehousing transition, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is unique: it has just one mainstream social landlord. This places a high premium on joint working with HHP, the stock transfer RSL. Strong relationships and communication were cemented post transfer in 2006, with Council homelessness officers working from HHP offices. But over the course of time they were re-located back to Council buildings. By 2019, joint prevention work had become less impactful. When HHP issued a Section 11 notice, the Comhairle sent tenants a standard letter. Few responded: just one tenant did so in 2018.

The Comhairle and HHP were thus enthusiastic participants in the Hub/SHN Section 11 project. This tested three principles, aiming to realise Section 11’s untapped preventative benefits. The first was earlier notification: when notice is served, rather than when court action is starting. The next principle focused on sharing more, and more useful, details with a Council – not only a tenant’s name and address, but the best way to contact them, household composition and risks/vulnerabilities. Lastly, the Council and RSLs would work together more closely, and more deliberately, to prevent homelessness.

HHP issued Section 11 notices, with enhanced details, to named officers in the Comhairle every time they served notice of possession for a HHP tenancy. Comhairle officers would triage referrals, discussing with HHP which tenants may require more input – some had already responded, so did not need this. Where tenants didn’t respond to HHP, the Comhairle offered a joint visit, or tried various different routes and techniques to contact the tenant to engage them in advice and support to prevent eviction.

The outcome

HHP carried out three evictions in 2017-18 and five the year before the project, compared to none in 2019 when the project was underway. The Comhairle succeeded engaging every tenant who had received a notice whom HHP had been unable to reach. Due to its impact, both partners agreed to mainstream the enhanced approach.

In the wider pilot, including four Councils and seven RSLs, homelessness was prevented in 96% of cases. Councils and RSLs able to apply project principles in full (as in Western Isles) experienced no homelessness. Those unable to commit sufficient resource to apply principles in full did not witness such reductions. This offers a useful (unintended) comparator. Findings suggest earlier intervention and greater information-sharing, joint working and resource commitment to preventative approaches can reduce homelessness.

Key insights

• social tenants who become homeless often don’t appreciate their limited onward housing options: an ability to explain this at an early point, using approaches other than standard letters, can aid prevention
• an agency other than the tenant’s landlord (including the Council) may have more success engaging some households, whose trust can rise as they hear consistent messages from different sources
• some pilot partners were unable to commit sufficient resource upstream due to demands from the acute/statutory service. That suggests a need for transitional funding to complete a prevention shift and/or methods of risk assessment/triage for households most in need of an enhanced approach

Find out more…

Lorraine Graham, Homelessness Services Manager, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
l.graham@cne-siar.gov.uk