Impact report 2016/17

Transcription

1 Impact report 2016/17

2 Contents An introduction from our Interim Chief Executive An introduction from our Chief Executive 4 Our impact: The year at a glance 5 What we do 7 Shelter in England 8 Shelter in Scotland 11 Our impact 12 Shelter in England 13 Services 14 Spotlight on London 21 Spotlight on Manchester 27 Digital 33 Other services 34 Policy and campaigns 35 Shelter in Scotland 41 Services 42 Policy and campaigns 43 Summary and what s next 45 Methodology 46 Shelter sees millions of people every year in England and Scotland who are struggling with bad housing or homelessness. This has been slowly getting worse over the last few years, and it s now widely recognised that we re in the midst of a housing crisis. This is seen in the increasing numbers of people made homeless every day in the fact that over 100,000 children are living in temporary accommodation, and in house prices and rent becoming increasingly unaffordable for ordinary working people. Every day, we see the devastating impact that not having a place to call home is having on people s lives. At Shelter, we work to make life better for those affected by this crisis whether through the advice and support our services provide, or through our work to tackle the underlying causes of bad housing and homelessness. We re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own, and sadly we are needed now more than ever. We have always known we make a difference, but for the first time this report pulls together a comprehensive overview of the impact Shelter is having on the lives of those we are trying to help. We are hugely proud of what we ve done because it is both hard to achieve and hard to measure. We think we re good at what we do, but there are few others we can compare ourselves against. The figures in this report give us a solid baseline though, and we will seek to continually improve these numbers; looking to factor in the full measurement of the millions of people who come to us for advice online. Shelter believes everyone should have a safe, secure and affordable home, and our work won t stop until there s a home for everyone. Graeme Brown 3 4

3 Our impact: The year at a glance We are there to support people struggling with homelessness or bad housing. We help by: Giving expert housing advice on the phone, online and face to face and working with other partner organisations Attending court and providing legal services to defend people at risk of losing their home. Providing specialist support services to help families keep their home or settle into a new one. Campaigning to tackle the structural and root causes of the housing crisis so that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. Last year, across England and Scotland Shelter was there for 4.75 million people 68,500 people were helped by Shelter through our services in England and Scotland in 2016/17: 44,000 of those people have been helped by Shelter towards keeping their home 63% of people with financial difficulties saw an improvement. 56% of people who were faced with eviction or repossession stayed in their home. 22,000 of those people have been helped by Shelter to find a new home 65% of homeless people looking for accommodation found somewhere to live. 44% of people saw their poor living conditions improve. 65% of people saw their issues with their landlord/ letting agent/ tenancy improve. 70% of people who were struggling on a day-today basis are now coping or managing better. 43% of people not homeless found somewhere different to live. 36,500 of those people have been helped by Shelter to improve their living environments 46% of people living in an unsafe house or unsafe area saw an improvement. People came to us with the following problems: 78% of people who came to Shelter in need of help are now better able to keep their homes, have found a new home, or have improved their living environment. 84% of these people said these changes occurred because of help from Shelter. 25% of people had issues with their tenancy or landlord 19% of people needed to find somewhere to live 19% of people needed assistance with homelessness 18% of people were facing eviction 13% of people had financial issues We also saw how people s lives had changed in other ways since coming to Shelter. Our helpline and online advice services answered: Our face-to-face services saw: Our online advice pages received: 59% of clients said their happiness or wellbeing improved. 62% of support clients needing help to access education, training or employment saw an improvement. 124,771 enquiries 43,758 people 6.6 million visits 79% of support clients who needed help with family life and relationships saw an improvement. 67% of support clients needing help to manage their money and bills were managing better. 6

4 What we do Shelter in England How we help Shelter in England helps and supports people with housing issues via our website, webchat service, free national helpline, and face-to-face services based in 11 hub locations across the country, as well as through our policy and campaigns work. Last year in England, 38,850 people accessed support from Shelter s face-to-face advice, support and legal teams; our helpline advisers spoke to 60,580 people, and our online advice pages received 5.6 million visits. Shelter is here to support people struggling with bad housing and homelessness. We help by giving expert housing advice on the phone, online and face-to-face and working with other partner organisations. We attend court to defend people at risk of losing their home. We provide specialist support services to help families keep their home or settle into a new one. We campaign to tackle the structural and root causes of the housing crisis so that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. And as this report shows, we make a real difference to the lives of thousands of families across the country. Helpline Shelter's free national helpline is open all year round to offer expert advice to anyone struggling with issues related to housing and homelessness. It is staffed by 30 expert housing advisers who will listen to and support clients, and can help them take action. The helpline will also, when appropriate, refer callers to Shelter s faceto-face or telephone casework services for further intervention and support. It s the biggest helpline of its kind. Face-to-face services Our face-to-face advice and support services are delivered through our network of Shelter hubs. Their vision is to deliver a personalised housing service developed with the local community, which brings together all of our resources and expertise to maximise our impact on local housing issues and needs. Hubs offer a wide portfolio of advice and support, from Information Resource Centres, to legal representation from expert teams of housing advisers and solicitors. And through ongoing engagement and influencing with key decision makers, our hubs ensure that housing remains a high priority in the local community. Shelter in England 8

5 Locations of hubs We also deliver smaller outreach services in: Oxford Truro Colchester Crawley Truro Merseyside Devon & Cornwall Birmingham Lancashire Greater Manchester Bristol Dorset North East Sheffield Oxford Examples of face-to-face services Housing, debt and welfare advice Our specialist advisers offer advice to people who come to drop-in sessions at our hubs or outreach locations, or to people who have been referred from other Shelter or external services, as well as from local authorities. Legal advice Our team of solicitors offer expert legal advice, help fight repossessions and evictions, and sometimes attend court to defend people who are at risk of losing their home. They can also challenge local authority homelessness decisions, and step in when councils aren t doing enough. And they defend tenants by helping to pursue claims against landlords where disrepair is causing a serious risk of harm, or the landlord hasn t protected their deposit. London Crawley Eastern Counties Colchester Support services Our specialist support services are there for people who need more holistic help to keep their home, or to move into a new one after being homeless. Our teams work with people over time, giving them the full, practical support they need to get back on their feet and help them settle into the community. This might be by helping them to register at the local GP, accompanying them to appointments and ensuring they have the appropriate household goods and furniture. Digital advice Shelter s digital advice covers a wide range of housing problems from homelessness, and eviction to repairs and tenancy deposits. It helps people to take steps to resolve their problems and improve their housing conditions. As well as advice pages, our tools, calculators, template letters, videos, and audio ensure that our clients get the advice they need. Shelter also provides a live webchat service and people can get help from advisers on social media. Offender resettlement services Our offender resettlement services, called Through the Gate, are delivered in partnership with Sodexo and Purple Futures. The services identify offenders resettlement needs, working in partnership with statutory services. Every action feeds into one larger goal: to reduce the risk of re-offending. This is important because of the demonstrable links between offending and homelessness. Services are targeted at those most in need at the key stage of their criminal justice journey and at the point where the risk of re-offending is at its greatest. They also aim to empower people to support a return to independence. We have over 50 resettlement workers and 50 peer advisers in 19 prisons providing services directly to offenders. Delivering advice through partners The National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) makes our housing expertise and experience available to Citizens Advice, local authorities and other national organisations. We ve been providing free expert advice, training and support to professionals across England for over 26 years. We have a consultancy line and webchat service which supports frontline workers to explore and consider all practical options for their client. Our free programme of introductory and refresher training covers a range of housing issues and topics designed to respond to the latest developments in housing and homelessness. Policy and campaigns Pushing housing and homelessness up the agenda is why Shelter was set up in When existing rights, protections and laws don t go far enough, we campaign for stronger rights; for a better supply of housing; for a better financial safety net for when people hit problems. Our policy and campaigning work makes sure we keep the housing crisis in the news. We show people its real world effects through hard-hitting research and case studies. We identify arguments that get decision makers to act and develop new policy ideas that offer solutions. We build campaigns that capture the imagination of the public and our loyal supporters, helping galvanise them into action to put pressure on decision makers. We take on complex test cases, and intervene on others. We have been successful in the High Court, Court of Appeal, House of Lords (now the Supreme Court) and European Court. 9 Services Services 10

6 Shelter in Scotland How we help Shelter Scotland helps and supports people with housing issues via our website, webchat service, free national helpline, and face-toface services. Our face-to-face services are delivered via our community hubs in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. Our hubs offer specialist advice on housing, money, debt, benefits and fuel efficiency. Policy and campaigns Shelter Scotland has a proud history of being an effective campaigning voice for those facing bad housing or homelessness. We are here to drive forward change through our campaigning. Our campaigning work is outcome focused and ensures we are constantly working to push change for those most negatively affected by Scotland s housing crisis. Our impact We also provide legal assistance and representation through our team of solicitors to ensure our clients rights are represented and fairly enforced. Tailored local support services are available to help those who require ongoing support. Last year, the helpline in Scotland took calls from 13,288 people Our advice, support and legal services saw 4,908 people Our online advice pages received more than 900,000 visits Our webchat service, which provides advice and guidance, also had online chats with 2,949 people 11 Shelter in Scotland

7 Shelter in England Services Helpline 78% of people who came to Shelter in need of help are now better able to keep their homes, have found a new home, or have improved their living environment. 84% of these people said these changes occurred because of help from Shelter. This equates to 58,000 people. 74% of these people said this was because of help from Shelter. That works out as 25,000 people. 92% of callers were happy with the help they received. 75% would recommend the helpline to a friend. Overall outcomes Keeping homes 40,000 people have been helped towards keeping their home 63% of people with financial difficulties saw an improvement. 56% of people who were faced with eviction or repossession stayed in their home. 70% of people who were struggling on a day-to-day basis are now coping or managing better. Finding somewhere to live 20,000 people have been helped to find a new home 64% of homeless people looking found somewhere to live. 42% of people not homeless but were looking found somewhere different to live. Improving living environments 30,000 people have been helped to improve their home 43% of people saw their poor living conditions improve. 64% of people who had issues with their tenancy, landlord or letting agent saw an improvement. 45% of people living in an unsafe house or unsafe area saw an improvement. Keeping homes 60% people who called the helpline kept or were better able to keep their homes. In total, this equates to 11,600 people who say this change was because of the helpline. 45% of people with financial difficulties saw an improvement. Finding somewhere to live 49% of people who called looking for somewhere new to live managed to find a home within three months of calling. This equates to approximately 7,000 people who found somewhere thanks to Shelter. 60% of homeless people looking found somewhere to live. Improving living environments 50% of people who were faced with eviction or repossession stayed in their home. 57% of people who were struggling on a day-today basis are now coping or managing better. 62% of the people who called us with issues relating to their living environment saw an improvement. This works out at 15,300 people helped thanks to Shelter. 41% of people living with poor conditions saw an improvement. 64% of people who had issues with their tenancy, landlord or letting agent saw an improvement. 37% of people living in an unsafe house or area saw an improvement. 13 Shelter in England Services 14

8 Kimberley s story "At the time of first finding out our landlord wanted to evict us, I was 34 weeks pregnant. The council said they couldn t help us until we got to the next stage in the eviction process. I worried that we might end up with nowhere at all. The council said that they didn t have to help us. I worried that the children would be taken away from us, because it was implied that they would house the children but not us. We ended up being housed in a flat in a hostel. All four of us in one room, including a new-born baby. Several weeks later we were moved again to another place. The room was very tiny and we had a very small floor space. With nowhere else to eat, we had to eat our dinner on the beds and with a baby we had to sit in the dark from 8.30pm. Mark broke down the first night we were there. We were in the room and he just said, I can t do this. I had to say you can do this, it s all we have. We were bidding on properties with the council but we never knew how many people were bidding ahead of us, so we didn t hold out much hope. But then we came top with our current place. It s rundown but it s so ready to be taken care of and made homely. It ll be the first place I ve ever lived in that I can decorate. Without Shelter my children would still be stuck with nowhere to call home. I rang Shelter s helpline at every stage, and the advisers I spoke to gave me the confidence to get through the process and understand my rights. I ve met a lot of others going through this situation and I ve said to them why haven t you called Shelter, because they want to help." I rang Shelter s helpline at every stage, and the advisers I spoke to gave me the confidence to get through the process and understand my rights 15 Services 16

9 Services Face-to-face advice and support Finding somewhere to live 57% of everyone who was looking for somewhere new or different to live managed to find a home. 79% of people who used our face-to-face services were helped towards staying in their home, finding somewhere new to live or improving their living environment. 83% of these people said this happened because of Shelter, to some extent. This works out as 7,500 people in the last year. Improving living environments 65% of homeless people looking found somewhere to live. 85% of these people said these changes were because of Shelter. This equates to 20,600 people in 2016/17. Overall outcomes 88% of people were happy with the service they received across all of our face-to-face services. 75% would recommend us to a friend. 65% of the people who came to our face-to-face services with issues relating to their living environment saw an improvement. 88% of these people said these changes were down to Shelter, in some way. This works out as 10,400 people in 2016/17. This includes: 43% of people living with poor conditions saw an improvement. 64% of people who had issues with their landlord, letting agent or tenancy saw an improvement. 48% of everyone with an unsafe house or local area saw an improvement. Keeping homes 70% of people who needed help towards keeping their homes found their situation had improved as a result of coming to our face-to-face services. Other findings Clients who received long-term, holistic support saw improvements in several areas of their life. 94% of these people said these changes were because of help from Shelter. In total, this equates to 15,000 people in 2016/17. This includes: 65% of people with financial difficulties saw an improvement. 58% of people who were faced with eviction or repossession stayed in their home. 72% of people who were struggling on a dayto-day basis said they re coping or managing better. Shelter's legal services were particularly successful at helping people to stay in their homes. 67% of people facing eviction or repossession were still in their homes three months after the Shelter legal team finished working with them. 39% needing help to access leisure activities or groups saw an improvement. 62% needing help to access education, training or employment saw an improvement. 79% needing help with family life and relationships saw an improvement. 67% needing help to manage their money and bills were managing better. 17 Services Services 18

10 Liz's story "I was very ill with bone marrow cancer. I lost my job because I was spending so much time going backwards and forwards to the hospital and so I couldn t afford to pay the rent on the room I was privately renting. I went to live with my now grown-up son, but I was sleeping on a mattress in my son s front room. He has four young children of his own, so it really wasn t possible to stay there for too long. I approached the council for help but was told we can t house everybody. I was due to start chemotherapy imminently and going back and forth with the council took so long that I thought I was facing living on the streets with cancer. It took months to sort out my benefits. At one point I went for six weeks with no money. So I had no money, no job, no home, and I had cancer. It was possibly the worst part of my life. That s when I decided to go to the Shelter office and ask for help. Immediately my mind was put at rest. My adviser, Louise, explained how the system worked and reassured me that I was going to get somewhere. My case got escalated to the solicitors in Shelter who threatened the council with judicial review. That s when things finally started moving. I was placed in two different types of temporary accommodation whilst Shelter helped me to apply for housing. It took a long time but it enabled me to bid for properties, which is how I got my place now, which is a one-bedroom bungalow. It s perfect for me because not only is it close to my son, but it s also sheltered housing, which is what I need, because this cancer is incurable and I have a lot of pain. My adviser, Louise, explained how the system worked and reassured me that I was going to get somewhere. It was just an awful time, and if I hadn t received that support from Shelter, I don t know what would have happened, I don t know whether I would have had the strength to keep going myself, the information to fight. Every step of the way Louise was with me. Every step of the way she explained things to me. Thank God for Shelter because, without them, I don t know what would have happened, I really don t." 19 Services Services 20

11 Spotlight on: Shelter s London hub London is bearing the brunt of the housing crisis, according to both our own and official government statistics. Over the last five years, the number of households accepted as homeless by London councils has increased by 85%. What s more, 72% of all homeless households living in temporary accommodation in England are from London. Shelter s London hub covers all 33 London boroughs, as well as Thames Valley in the South East of England. It offers a range of services including advice, support and guidance on a range of housing, debt and welfare benefit issues; housing support for families; specialist advice for fuel debt and poverty; legal help, and an information Resource Centre. With so many of the homeless households living in London, and social housing waiting lists now sitting at 227,549, it is always going to be a challenge to find somewhere new to live, with over half of households being held in temporary accommodation for over a year. The number of households becoming homeless after a no-fault eviction by their private landlord, is also an increasing problem in London, now accounting for 40% of homeless households. Where it is not possible to prevent an eviction, Shelter advisers work with people to find safe and secure housing for the future. 21 Spotlight on London 22

12 Examples of services London Councils Shelter's London hub has been funded by London Councils to deliver housing, debt and welfare advice for a number of years, and recently won a new four-year contract. Last year, 5,868 people came to this service. 11,825 people Together with ThamesReach, Stonewall Housing and St Mungo s, we offer housing, debt and welfare benefit advice; street outreach work; LGBT-focused advice and accommodation; tailored property searching in the private rented sector; help to access employment, training and education support, and help around improving mental and physical health. came to our London hub last year. 75% of clients have achieved a positive outcome related to them staying in their homes, finding somewhere new to live, or improving their living environment. 79% of these people say this was thanks to Shelter. Number from the service who gained or secured temporary or permanent accommodation 202 people Number who were able to sustain their tenancies for a year or more 426 people Number helped to gain employment, volunteering opportunities or work placements. 172 people Slough In Slough we work from Slough Advice Centre, an information and advice centre led by Shelter which offers a single point of access to a consortium of over 40 local advice and support agencies. The Slough Prevention Alliance Community Engagement consortium aims to help people live independently, prevent and postpone the need for formal care, and support and let people know how to access the right services at the right times in their local communities. We deliver a range of services on site, including financial capability training and support through our Feel at Home with your Finances service, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, as well as legal help. Number who received help from Slough in its first year: 3,000 local residents 23 Spotlight on London Spotlight on London 24

13 Denise s story "I was living in temporary accommodation after having broken up with my husband. I was heavily pregnant with my first child and the council said they d only house me until I had the baby. I had just two weeks before they said they would evict me and so I was really worried, and didn t know what to do or where to go. Citizens Advice told me to go to Shelter, so I went to see them in my local borough. Going there made me feel that someone cared and that I was getting help. Greg said, Yes, we can help you. He called me within 48 hours and always made sure he followed through on his promises. Greg helped me so much with my housing. He wrote to the council and they finally agreed they had a duty to house me. Greg helped me so much with my housing. He wrote to the council and, in January this year, the council agreed they had a duty to house me. I was able to stay in the same temporary accommodation and I'm so grateful to have somewhere to live with my little girl. I m hoping to find somewhere settled I can live with my new-born baby. Shelter has been such a great support through this and were critical in getting the council to change their minds so that I could stay." 25 Spotlight on London 26

14 Spotlight on: Shelter s Greater Manchester hub In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Greater Manchester. Loss of benefits, a shortage of housing, a reduction of bed spaces in hostels, and an increase in rents all contribute to the deepening crisis. Shelter's Greater Manchester hub operates from the City of Manchester covering all 10 of the combined authorities. The hub is made up of several services offered in Greater Manchester, including: Advice, support and guidance on housing, benefits and debt An Information Resource Centre Housing First through Inspiring Change Manchester Support to access the private rented sector Legal help with housing issues, legal aid and a court desk The British Gas Energy Trust service for people in fuel poverty and fuel debt 27 Spotlight on Manchester 28

15 Examples of services in Greater Manchester 3,718 people came to our Greater Manchester hub for advice and support in the last year. Access to the private rented sector Since June 2016, Shelter s Greater Manchester hub has offered an Access to the Private Rented sector service. This new service helps individuals and families find, and settle into, a new home in the private rented sector. With the stock of social housing dwindling and house prices rising, the private rented sector is increasingly in demand from all types of households, but it s difficult for many households on low incomes to find a home. In its first year: Part of this programme is a two-year pilot of Housing First, which commenced in April This service finds people somewhere stable to live, with no pre-conditions that they address other issues. It then provides the support services and connections people need to stay in their homes and avoid homelessness in the future. So far, 10 households have been accommodated using this approach: four in social housing, and six in privately rented accommodation. Manchester Targeted Advice 80% of people who visited the Manchester hub were better able to keep their homes, have found a new home, or have improved their living environment. 92% of these people said these changes were because of help from Shelter. This equates to 2,200 people in 2016/17. 65% of these people said their happiness or wellbeing improved as a result of coming to Shelter. 13 households were able to move into the private rented sector. Eight households were supported to furnish their homes. 13 households have been helped to sustain their tenancy for six months or more. As of April 2017, a further seven households are housed and working toward sustaining their tenancies. Housing First The Manchester Targeted Advice service, funded by Manchester City Council, provides free specialist advice in housing, debt and welfare benefits. The service takes referrals from a broad range of organisations in Manchester. Last year: 356 people were helped with welfare or benefits issues, including 120 people who received a new or increased benefit or tax credit award Inspiring Change Manchester is an eight-year programme funded through the Big Lottery Fund s 112m Fulfilling Lives project. 53 people were helped with debt issues 49 people were helped to find a new home 29 Spotlight on Manchester Spotlight on Manchester 30

16 Matthew s story "I come from a background of living in foster families, and I also have ADHD. Through a combination of life circumstances, I found myself homeless for a couple of years back in 2014, and sleeping rough on the streets of Manchester. I went to Shelter when I was at my lowest point, and I m so thankful I did. I was helped by case workers at Inspiring Change Manchester, who did so much to get me back on my feet. They were there to help me sort out my finances and benefits. They got me back on track with my health needs, and just built me up and boosted my confidence, which back then was very low. But biggest of all, they helped me to find a privately rented flat of my own, and I ve been living here since November Having my own place makes a massive difference in my life. My health is easier to manage, and I m back on regular medication for my ADHD. Now I have somewhere I can invite friends back to, so my social life has improved so much. Whereas before I was lonely, now I can make friends with shared interests I ve just recently been rock-climbing with a new friend, which is not something I would have thought about doing before Shelter stepped in. Just having a shower of my own, and the ability to choose what to eat for my dinner and when these are the little things in life that make me feel more secure and stable. Having a home base makes all the difference to me. I ve been involved in so many of the regular events at Shelter from the weekly service user meet ups, to art therapy classes. My case worker and I will be going paintballing in the next few weeks, and I m even planning a holiday for later this year this is in large part down to the everyday assistance and support I ve had from Shelter. Even when I haven t been the easiest person to work with, Shelter staff have shown such patience with me that I ll never forget what they ve done for me." 31 Spotlight on Manchester Spotlight on Manchester 32

17 Digital A survey of online advice seekers found that 76% who d finished looking had successfully completed their reason for visiting the Shelter site. In a survey of 35 live webchat service users, 49% said their problem had improved in one or more of the following ways: Other services: Offender resettlement services Our custody service saw approximately 24,000 people last year 72% of those (with known outcomes) requiring help accessed housing after leaving prison, retained their housing during their sentence or improved the relationship with their landlords. They found somewhere new to live Their poor living conditions had improved Their problems with their landlord, letting agency or tenancy had improved They were able to stay in their home Our community integration service offered support to 2,200 people last year. Of those, at least 232 people (with known outcomes) found a permanent or more settled home and 87 people improved their financial situation. Their financial situation had improved 76% of those who experienced an improvement in their housing situation said this change happened because of Shelter, at least to some extent Our mentoring service provided over 13,000 hours of mentoring support for 1,400 people last year. A survey with people who used our Discretionary Housing Payments tool showed that 17% of people were able to stay in their home Delivering advice through partners Consultancy line 9,729 people were given advice via professionals by calling the free telephone consultancy service for housing or homelessness queries last year. In a survey with 211 users, half of people needing assistance were able to keep their homes when facing eviction or repossession 97% of those in the survey said the information and advice they received was very or somewhat helpful towards progressing their client s case Succinct, thorough and pertinent expert advice. Really brilliant. I couldn't find it in books. Thanks so much you've prevented someone becoming homeless. Housing Second Tier Service referrer 33 Digital Other services 34

18 Policy and campaigns Keeping homes Recently we ve been campaigning against a number of changes to legislation that would make it harder for people to stay in their homes. Finding somewhere to live We have campaigned for changes which will make it easier for people to find a home to live in. Mandatory Pay to stay was dropped which risked imposing unaffordable rent increases on social housing tenants. This means that 290,000 people now don t have to worry about unaffordable rent increases. We helped secure the exemption from shorter-term tenancies for vulnerable groups in social housing, as set out in the Housing and Planning Act People with disabilities and families with children still in education will continue to have a roof over their head for the long-term. Limiting the restriction of housing benefit for year olds Exemptions to the restriction has brought the total number of people in scope for the ban down to 10,000 people, from an estimated 46,000. We promoted longer-term rental contracts and the government will now encourage threeyear tenancies for new build-to-rent homes. Our campaign attracted 37,639 petition signatures, 164 personal stories were shared with target MPs, and 102 'super landlords' have pledged to support the campaign so far. We will continue to put pressure on the government and landlords to ensure that longer tenancies become the norm. The Homelessness Reduction Act is expected to be implemented in Councils will now have to act when someone is 56 days or less away (currently it s just 28 days) from facing homelessness and there will be more advice and assistance for non-priority need households. We worked with backbencher MP Bob Blackman, who proposed the legislation via a Private Members Bill, and with ministers to also ensure the rights of priority need households (mainly families) were not watered down. Letting agent fees are likely to be banned Following Shelter s high profile campaign Letting Away With It, which gained 22,415 petition signatures, the government announced it plans to ban letting agent fees to tenants in England, potentially benefiting approximately 900,000 renters a year. We campaigned for more affordable homes to be built The government reduced the damaging pledge to ensure that 20% of new homes be starter homes to 10% and these can now include other forms of (more) affordable homeownership products, e.g. shared ownership. This will help people on lower incomes to find somewhere affordable to live. Plans for the forced selling-off of council homes were paused These plans would make it even more difficult for people who desperately need an affordable home, as there would be fewer affordable homes to go round. The policy has now been delayed for a year and we hope will be dropped permanently. Local authorities will be able to get better value for public land as they will be able to sell land with planning permission attached, meaning they can benefit from the uplift in value and use this to fund affordable housing. 35 Policy and campaigns Policy and campaigns 36

19 Improving living environments We have pushed for improvements to the Housing and Planning Act that will make the Private Rented sector safer and fairer for tenants. The act will protect people against rogue landlords. This includes: banning convicted rogue landlords from renting out properties creating a register of rogue landlords helping tenants to claim back rent to a rogue landlord under rent repayment orders increasing financial penalties for rogue landlords. The act will provide further protections for private renters. This includes: an end to DIY evictions, so that the landlord can t evict a tenant for simply not responding to a landlord s s client money protection, to ensure that letting agents legally protect money they receive from renters and landlords. We are currently in the process of making sure that these policies work as effectively as possible. This includes ensuring that powers to introduce regular electrical safety checks are put to use, and arguing that the register of rogue landlords is made public so that people can avoid renting from a rogue landlord. 37 Policy and campaigns Policy and campaigns 38

20 Tracey s story Tracey approached her council for help the moment she found out she was going to be evicted, but unfortunately couldn t get much help until it was already too late. The new prevention duties might have helped her to stay in her home, or given her greater assistance to find her somewhere new to live. "Shortly before Christmas, the landlord decided he wanted his house back. I d lived there for six years with my partner and 10-yearold son, but we were only given two months notice to leave. We looked everywhere but prices had gone up so much it was impossible to find anywhere and landlords didn t want anyone on housing benefits, even though I was working and only getting a small amount to top it up. When we went to the council for help they said we had to come back again after the court process and when the bailiffs had come to evict us. This was so frustrating, we didn t want to wait until the last minute, but the council weren t giving us any assurances about having somewhere to go. It was really scary not knowing whether we d have a roof over our heads or not at the end of it. On the day the bailiffs were due, I didn t want my son to feel intimidated by them so we went to the council offices as soon as they opened. We were given an appointment for 1pm but we didn t have anywhere to go so we just had to wait at the housing department. We were there until 6pm when we were shown a room which had needles all over the floor. I obviously refused to stay there and so the council put us in another bedsit before eventually being moved to a private rented property in Harlesden. The whole process was so frustrating. The council didn t do anything to stop the landlord evicting us, and apart from some leaflets, offered no help to find somewhere new." 39 Policy and campaigns Policy and campaigns 40

21 Shelter in Scotland Example of support services South Lanarkshire, and Dumfries and Galloway support 83% 88% of people who used our services are better able to keep their homes, have found a new home, or have improved their living environment. of these people say these changes were because of help from Shelter Scotland. This works out as 11,100 people. Two of our support services in Scotland are in South Lanarkshire, and Dumfries and Galloway. They are designed to support homeless people or people at severe risk of homelessness, giving them the skills they need to cope with day-to-day life and to move into and sustain permanent accommodation. Recent in-depth interviews by an external research consultancy found that the services were making a huge difference to individuals and families. The agency reported that staff really take a holistic view of people s needs, and approach them in a way that is encouraging and empowering. Keeping homes 62% of clients looking for help towards keeping their homes were able to avoid eviction or repossession, saw their financial situation improve, or told us that they re now managing better on a daily basis. Finding somewhere to live 76% of clients looking to find somewhere new or different to live managed to find a home. Improving living environments 73% of people who needed assistance with issues relating to their living environment in the last year saw these issues improved or resolved. 30 of the 32 homeless people interviewed are now in settled accommodation. Others, who were at risk of eviction because of rent arrears, have since managed their debts well and stayed in their homes. Taking into consideration those who say this change was down to Shelter Scotland, this equates to 4,500 people in the last year. This equates to 3,500 people who have found somewhere to live and who say it s because of Shelter Scotland. This equates to 6,500 people helped by Shelter Scotland. This includes those whose poor conditions improved; those whose problems with their landlord, letting agency or tenancy were resolved or improved; and those whose unsafe house or area improved. 41 Shelter in Scotland Services 42

22 Policy and campaigns in Scotland This year, we published and proactively campaigned on our Manifesto for Homes, asking all political parties to sign up to our four key commitments to tackle Scotland s housing crisis: 1) Deliver a home for everyone in Scotland. 2) Tackle the root causes of homelessness and meet the needs of every homeless person in Scotland. 3) Make private renting right. 4) Put homes at the heart of social justice and tackling child poverty. Keeping homes We campaigned to make private renting more stable through the new Private Tenancy, as outlined in the Private Housing (Tenancies) Act (Scotland), that will come into effect later in This will provide much greater security of tenure for the growing number of private renters in Scotland, making it harder for them to be evicted on the whim of a bad landlord. It will also ensure that rents can only be raised once annually and will be more predictable and controlled. We re working with councils to keep social tenants in their homes after our research highlighted a worrying rise in evictions across councils and housing associations in recent years. We are engaging with the sector to share best practice in tackling rent arrears to ensure more people in Scotland s social sector are able to keep their homes when financial pressures mount up. Finding somewhere to live We secured commitments to build more affordable homes. The Scottish Government has committed to building 50,000 affordable homes by 2021, with 35,000 available for social rent. Over time, this should help ensure more people are able to access a genuinely affordable home. We have refocused the government on the most vulnerable homeless people. Following our Homelessness: Far From Fixed campaign launch, there will be an inquiry into homelessness in Scotland and a strengthening and refocussing of the high level Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group in Scotland. We are working to bring 34,000 homes back under occupation. Our work hosting the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership has contributed to improving the supply of housing in Scotland by working to bring more and more of Scotland s long-term empty properties back into use. Improving living environments We are working to improve the quality of private housing conditions. We ve helped shape the Scottish government s proposals for changes to the Repairing Standard and Minimum Standards of Energy Efficiency, to bring the quality of private housing more in line with social housing. With funding from British Gas, we are working so that everyone has a healthy home. We trained 137 frontline health practitioners to recognise patients who might be in, or at risk of, fuel poverty, and to know how to support them. This resulted in tangible improvements on 23 of these staff s patients. We have helped to raise the profile of fuel poverty in Scotland and shape the conversations on the development of a forthcoming new fuel poverty strategy and Warm Homes Bill in this parliament. We amplify the voice of private rented tenants through our engagement work. We also took on 596 private landlord cases in Dundee and the Highlands to raise standards by improving compliance with the rules and regulations which cover the private rented sector. 43 Policy and campaigns Policy and campaigns 44

23 Summary and what's next This report is the first of its kind from Shelter on its impact. We have shown, using robust methods, the success of our work to help people make a tangible difference to their lives. We know that through our helpline and face-to-face services we directly helped 68,500 people in England and Scotland last year. This is likely to be an underestimation of our total impact, and there is more work to be done to understand the impact of our digital advice and campaigning work. We re proud of the work we ve done so far to capture the breadth of our impact, and we will continue to take this forward. We will maintain our outcomes survey, and look for opportunities to gain even more insight from it. We will explore ways of capturing outcomes from our work that have been more difficult to collect, such as our campaigning impact and the role of our digital services. It s really important for us to be able to demonstrate our financial value. We want to show how helping people to change their housing situation can bring wider benefits and save the government money too. This is something we will develop for the future. We will keep identifying evidence gaps and ensuring that we are providing a robust and credible approach to reporting on our organisational impact. Methodology The steps towards our methodology: 1. We developed an outcomes framework through the creation of a Shelter-wide Theory of Change 2 that gives us set outcomes to aim for and compare against across all of our services and campaigning work. The common outcomes framework identified that Shelter aims to help people: Keep their homes and stay in them Find new homes Improve their homes 2. We conducted an outcomes survey with 2,000 of our clients in 2016/17 via telephone three months after we had closed their case on our management system 3. A sample of clients who d given consent were called to do the survey. Minimum quotas were set on age, gender and presenting problem, reflective of our overall client base. A breakdown of these quotas can be found in Appendix C and the full questionnaire can be found in Appendix A. 3. We analysed and interpreted the main outcomes survey data through a mixture of percentages of people who achieved certain outcomes and grossing up this number to estimate the number of people achieving outcomes. Percentages displayed are the proportion of people who had achieved outcomes, unless otherwise stated, and are based only on those who had the problem. Anyone who said 'Don't know' or 'Too early to say' are excluded. Base sizes used therefore vary throughout the report. Base sizes of less than 20 are excluded. Individual outcomes are grouped into one of three categories: keep, find, improve as per the framework. The groupings are detailed below. Keep Find Improve Financial situation improved completely or partially Stayed in their home after being faced with eviction or repossession Coping or managing better after struggling to cope or manage life on a day-to-day basis Find somewhere new or different to live homeless Find somewhere new or different to live not homeless 2 Theory of change is a diagram that sets out the overall aim and outcomes that a service, organisation or programme hopes to achieve 3 Legal clients were contacted three months after their case had been in billing Issues with poor conditions in their home improved or resolved Issues with landlord/ letting agent/ tenancy improved or resolved Problems with unsafe house or local area improved or resolved Methodology 46

24 Outcomes are presented per person but an individual may have multiple problems and achieve multiple positive outcomes. If a person has more than one problem and achieves at least one positive outcome, the person is regarded as having a positive outcome. Similarly, someone might have a positive outcome in more than one outcome but is only counted once in its grouped up category. This is why percentages for outcomes can add up to more than 100% in the grouped outcome. In order to extrapolate these numbers and estimate how many Shelter clients had achieved outcomes, the following steps were made: Calculate the proportion of clients who said they had each problem in the survey using all clients in the survey as the base 4. Calculate the proportion of clients for each problem with a positive outcome. This is the proportion whose problem was resolved or improved using the total number of clients experiencing the issue as the base. Calculate the proportion of clients who state the improvement in their housing situation was because of Shelter, at least to some extent 5, using a base of all those who had the problem resolved, and excluding those who did not answer the question, said it was not applicable, or that it was too early to say. Apply each of the proportions above sequentially to the number of unique clients whose cases had closed in 2016/17 6 within each service or area. This gives an approximate figure of clients who had the issue, had the issue resolved or improved, and attribute this to Shelter, at least to some extent. Numbers are then conservatively rounded up or down. The following base size rules were applied when calculating the numbers: If the base size for calculating the proportion of people with the problem or had achieved a positive outcome was less than 30, it was not used for calculating the numbers of clients. If the attribution rate had a base size of less than 30, then the attribution rate used was the next level up e.g. if the attribution rate for people whose poor conditions improved was less than 30, then the attribution rate for Improve overall was used. 4. We sourced data from a variety of other places to supplement our findings: Feedback survey Feedback surveys are routinely used by our services to ensure that their experience was satisfactory. Two questions are used routinely in these surveys, which we have also referenced in this report: Satisfaction Recommendations through the use of Net Promoter Score From a mixture of an online survey through Survey Monkey, postal surveys and other forms of issuing the survey, the total sample sizes used were: Helpline Face to face services Net Promoter Score 2,528 5,677 Satisfaction 2,761 6,155 Webchat follow-up survey The success of digital advice remains a challenge to track because it is difficult to follow up with people once they have accessed it. This is because of its one-way level of communication or its lighttouch approach. Webchat users are asked at the end of their interaction if they could leave their addresses in order for us to send a survey and find out what has happened to them since. However, there are a relatively low number of people who leave their address afterwards because it is not necessary to do so in order to access the tool. 35 people took part in the webchat follow-up survey. Due to the low numbers we have only used the aggregated percentage of those who had at least one of the mentioned issues. We will look to develop our approach further in the future so that we can capture a bigger and more representative group of clients accessing our services digitally, including our advice pages. The full questionnaire can be found in Appendix H. All of these detailed calculations used for the report can be found in Appendix D. 4 Clients in the online survey from the helpline were not asked if they were experiencing the problem first in the survey. Therefore, the proportions of helpline telephone survey respondents were used instead. 5 This includes those who said either it was down to Shelter, either Completely, Largely or To some extent. 6 Please note, this is different to the numbers presented in the report on the numbers of people accessing the services, which is based on the number of cases opened 47 Methodology Methodology 48