Filling in the picture: Homelessness in the North East and learning what can be done about it Executive summary

Transcription

1 Filling in the picture: Homelessness in the North East and learning what can be done about it Executive summary Association of North East Councils JUNE 2010

2 Key findings of the research Prevention work has greatly reduced the numbers who are homeless, but unevenly across the region, and not amongst all groups The official data masks the scale of the problem The best estimate of hidden homelessness is that around 5000 people are homeless each year in the North East but not counted in official records Rough sleeping is a much larger problem than official counts suggest: 659 people were recorded as having slept rough in 2008/9 before making use of a housing support service Repeat homelessness is a key issue, particularly for single homeless people and ex-offenders, but it is not counted: 3,539 people used services more than once during 3 years, some as many as 11 times Only three of the 12 local authorities in the North East regularly collect and analyse data about all households facing homelessness in their area The outcomes of housing support work need to be significantly improved There is a great deal of good practice in the region but not all areas have yet responded to the new agendas of Places of Change, tackling rough sleeping, and tackling worklessness which can help people to move away from homelessness for good Policies implemented in the region have had mixed impact on homelessness We do not yet know the costs of not preventing homelessness in the North East I was better off in prison, at least I had some food and a bed, it was safe and I was warm, off the drugs, and had things to do, so I was better off re-offending (young offender) I d been sleeping rough, the worst experience of my life, after I ran out of friends to stay with. Because I was 18 already, I had to ring round all day to try to find somewhere to stay myself, but I was still very young, didn t know how to find anywhere, didn t have any credit on my phone. I was so close to getting into prostitution just so I could get some money to get a place to stay (young woman, Barnardos research) Young people deserve to have safe accommodation. rather than putting everyone together and then hope people will get along with each other and hope it then works out (young person, Barnardos research) I got excellent support and help I was living in a supportive environment and learning to manage my tenancy and home (former substance misuser) I slept rough for more than 5 years in parks, cars, derelict buildings, gardens, anywhere, but now when I get up in the morning, I have breakfast in my own home, say goodbye to my wife and the cat, then drive off to work in my car - things I never dreamt I would be doing (former homeless man) 1

3 Key findings of the research The words of homeless service users show the desperation, and relief, of people who have experienced homelessness in the North East region in the recent past. Millions of pounds are spent on tackling homelessness in the North East, not just by central and local government, but by housing organisations, charities, and individuals. The homelessness prevention approach has really taken root in the North East. There are three champion local councils in the region which are seen as exemplars in preventing homelessness, reducing rough sleeping, and helping people to bring an end to housing and money problems and to get into work. Many housing providers have worked hard, often in partnership with local authorities and with service users, to ensure that prevention work is successful and sustainable. Despite all this good work, this research uncovered the evidence about the real scale of need in the region amongst homeless people which is not visible, leading to insufficient action to address the problem. Hidden homelessness is a feature of the North East as elsewhere, and a key aim of the research was to build a better evidence base in order to help to reduce the damage caused to the people affected, as well as to the reputation of the region. This research was commissioned by the Association of North East Councils (ANEC) as a contribution to evidence about housing need and issues for the North East Strategy. The findings suggest a possible direction of travel for work between the local authorities and their partners within each subregion. It sits alongside research about the private rented sector and about the housing needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople commissioned by ANEC. The research was carried out at the end of the Labour government s term of office and was published as the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government came into office. The report highlights the fact that all three main parties support action to reduce the incidence of rough sleeping in the country, and the Conservative Housing Minister has signed up to a pledge to the target of ending of rough sleeping by What are the true scale, nature and causes of homelessness across the region, including hidden homelessness? Hidden homelessness Based on the data and information gathered in the research, our best estimate is that in the region of 5,000 people could be described as hidden homeless (not counted in official records) in the North East each year. This is one-and-a-half times the number of households accepted as homeless in 2008/09, and equal to the number of households who were counted as presenting as homeless. Some estimates show that the figure could be as high as 10,000. Hidden homelessness has no universally accepted definition. It is defined in this research as: Homelessness experienced by those in very insecure situations who are not counted as homeless because they are not owed a full duty (for example, sofa surfers, rough sleepers, and people in very temporary accommodation in hostels, B&B, nightshelters, or with friends/family), or because they have not applied to the local homelessness service. Using this definition, we have used the Crisis estimate of around 200,000 people who are hidden homeless across Great Britain to provide an estimate of a figure of 10,400 for the North East. Our research gathered data and information from a range of sources, which, for the year 2008/09, help to build up a fuller picture of the true scale of hidden homelessness in the region: 2,393 households were without any accommodation or in very precarious situations, but had been in touch with other statutory or voluntary agencies organisations 2

4 72 households were homeless but not in touch with the homelessness services, as counted in a snapshot survey carried out in two local authority areas in February 2010, equivalent to 371 across the region 659 people in the North East were noted as having slept rough immediately before entering supported housing in 2008/09 Around 1,280 repeat users of housing support were not thought to be in touch with statutory homelessness services 7,345 households were helped through a prevention action taken by the homelessness service or a partner agency, most of whom were not counted in official figures for those presenting as homeless or threatened with homelessness. These figures cannot be simply added up, as there will be considerable duplication between them. However, based on this data, and using our knowledge of homelessness in the region, we can give a best estimate of the true underlying scale of hidden homelessness: we suggest that the number of people affected by homelessness which is hidden (not counted in official records) annually across the North East is in the region of 5,000 but it could be as high as 10,000. Other homelessness Homeless statistics for the North East (the smallest region in England), in 2008/09 show that the North East had: The lowest number of homeless decisions of any region in England (5,450) The 3rd highest acceptance rate (2.8 per 1,000 households of population) The highest number of acceptances (3,140) as a proportion of all decisions The lowest rate of not homeless decisions A low rate of intentionally homeless and non-priority decisions A greater fall in numbers of people accepted as homeless by comparison with the rest of England over the last six years Big differences in acceptance rates around the region which are not entirely explained by either size of authority or rates of deprivation (though rural areas generally make fewer decisions than urban areas). Differences between the North East and other regions may be due to the historic availability of social housing within the region. The variations within the region may be explained by different interpretations and recording styles as much as different needs, but there are also different levels of prevention work. Emergencies such as floods (such as those experienced in Morpeth in 2008) also affect homelessness figures. Despite the emphasis on addressing parental evictions and domestic violence in prevention activities, and on addressing youth homelessness, the top causes of homelessness do not vary greatly over time and are similar to those seen elsewhere in the country: Violent relationship breakdowns (24.3%) Parents no longer willing to accommodate (22.9%) Loss of rented or tied accommodation including the ending of assured shorthold tenancies (16.5%). There was no significant increase in the number of households leaving their last home because of mortgage arrears in the North East over the three years up to March Overcrowding does not appear to be a major cause of homelessness in the North East. 3

5 Who becomes homeless and what characteristics do they have? The highest users of housing support are single homeless people, three quarters of those going into housing support Other high users of housing support are people experiencing domestic violence and young people By contrast, households accepted as homeless and owed a full housing duty are most likely to be lone parents, over 25 but under 44, headed by women, white British, and not working Fewer than 1 in 20 of North East residents are from an ethnic minority compared to 1 in 11 of homeless acceptances (the North East has the second lowest ethnic minority population and the lowest acceptance rate for ethnic minority applicants for all regions) Some areas of the North East had no acceptances for people from ethnic minorities, whilst four areas had between 1 in 10 and 1 in 5 Three quarters of households moving into general needs housing after being homeless were not working Two thirds of all those using housing support were job seekers, though more homeless families were in full-time or part-time work than other client groups Surprisingly, for a region with the highest level of teenage pregnancy, the North East does not appear to have exceptionally high levels of households accepted as in priority need because of pregnancy compared to other areas of the country. Where had people lived before? Before moving into general needs housing, most accepted homeless households were staying with family, or were in private rented or owner occupied housing Before moving into supported housing, a third of accepted homeless households had been with friends or family previously, or had lost accommodation from the private rented sector as well as local authority tenancies, but around a sixth had been rough sleeping immediately prior to moving in. NB Homelessness reports provided each quarter do not identify what type of housing people had before, only causes of homelessness, so the figures used here are from other sources. Official figures (P1E and Supporting People) show only a small number of homeless people moving around the region. Other figures (for example the Newcastle Homelessness Liaison Project data) and anecdotal evidence from providers and service users shows that there is rather more movement around the region, and that official figures do not adequately recognise the disruption when people have no choice but to move to get accommodation. In the first three There wasn t anything available locally so I was offered somewhere 40 miles away, but this meant missing appointments with Probation, not seeing my daughter, and having to make a whole new benefit claim (single homeless man) months of 2009, 11% of all those leaving temporary accommodation in Newcastle came from outside the city, with most of those coming from elsewhere in the region. Hostels in Sunderland, Darlington, and Middlesbrough also take many referrals from outside their areas. 4

6 What type of accommodation do homeless people go in to? In the North East, more social housing is used as temporary accommodation than in any other region, and more people stay at home ( Homeless At Home ) - in most other regions the private rented sector is used far more as a temporary solution Three quarters of the people who were repeat users of supported housing had been in insecure housing immediately before 40% left supported accommodation in an unplanned way. Almost two thirds moved into situations where they had no accommodation of their own or from which they could well be made homeless again: staying with friends/family, sleeping rough, or moving into private rented accommodation (a type of accommodation which leads to a significant level of homelessness) For example, evictions and abandonments accounted for a fifth of the exits from supported housing providing accommodation for homeless people in Newcastle, a figure which is acknowledged as being too high. Many of the people involved are included in an estimate of 100 people who are circulating around between different hostels, on the streets, or sofa surfing A smaller proportion of homeless households are housed permanently by Housing Associations in the North East than anywhere else, with less than 1 in 10 of all lets going to statutory homeless households compared to 1 in 5 in the East of England and 1 in 4 in London. Councils and other agencies are now addressing the problem of movement between hostels and other insecure accommodation and back again. Local authorities and their partners in the region have been working hard to increase the number of homeless people who move out of insecure or temporary accommodation into sustainable tenancies. Agreements with social housing providers about ways of improving communication between them and the homeless service have helped, and work on pathways out of supported housing through Move-on Protocols Plans (MOPP) and other systems has begun to make a big difference. This now needs to be extended to help people who have got stuck in the system. The Council dump you here and then forget about you (woman in a refuge) When I came out [of prison], I had 800 rent arrears, and I ve never been able to afford to pay them off, so I ve been homeless and in and out of prison for something like 7-10 years. I ve relapsed back to using drugs largely because I had no safe accommodation to go to (ex-offender) I ve been banned [from social housing registers] for 5 years even though I haven t done anything which should stop me being a council tenant (substance misuser) What sort of support needs to homeless people have and how well are they met? There is high use of supported housing by homeless people with offending, drug, alcohol, and mental health needs, using Newcastle as a case study Repeat users of housing support who are classified as single homeless are likely to have other needs related to substance misuse and/or mental health problems and/or offending behaviour Outcomes of supported housing are not good enough for all users: there were 3,539 repeat users of short term housing support services in the North East more than once in the period who had been homeless or were in groups likely to have been at risk of homelessness; this was almost a quarter of all users, and people had used services up to 11 times over the three years For too many people (just under half the service users) there seems to be a tendency to stop engaging with support or for support to end before the outcome could be achieved - most repeat service users spent less than a month receiving support. 5

7 In the snapshot survey carried out in 3 case study areas, the type of support said to be needed was mainly around straightforward activities to do with managing a new home: getting a rent deposit or bond, filling in forms, getting furniture, and claiming benefits. What stops people resolving their housing problems? In the snapshot survey of unresolved homelessness, we learnt that barriers to ending homelessness and acute housing problems were mainly to do with managing money, not being allowed to take on a tenancy because of rent arrears or a criminal record, or not being able to afford a deposit, as well as drug and/or alcohol problems getting in the way. How many people have their homelessness prevented in the North East? In total there were 9,036 successful positive prevention actions in 2008/9 5,349 households (59%) were assisted to obtain alternative accommodation far more people in the North East region were helped through being housed in social housing (just under a half) than in other regions, where the private rented sector is used far more (a fifth in this region, compared to half across England as a whole) 3,619 households (40%) were helped to stay in their existing accommodation. This is experimental data and we learnt that many prevention actions are categorised as other in the North East as homelessness services were not easily able to classify the action taken by partners. There are also still concerns that prevention actions are not all sustainable, despite the Communities and Local Government (CLG) requirement that actions should be able to last at least six months. Nonetheless, this data shows the scale of prevention work that is happening across the region. It is interesting to note that the high use of rehousing in any social housing as reported in the prevention data in the North East, contrasts with a much lower rate reported for rehousing homeless households, as reported in CORE data. CORE data does not report lettings for all landlords. A key group for which agencies often struggle to prevent homelessness is refugees. Service users told us that I ended up in very poor, dirty and unpleasant accommodation. It was full of crazy people and I felt unsafe... the landlord turned the electricity off at night... no-one told me about how to get a deposit for private rented housing, and I didn t understand how to bid [for social housing] (refugee, Middlesbrough) there is often very little time allowed for them to move from accommodation as asylum-seekers, and once given the right to remain, it is all too rare that anyone offers advice about what to do next. How have policies at national and local level affected homelessness in the North East? The development of Enhanced Housing Options and the introduction of prevention initiatives have had, and are likely to continue to have, the most significant change on levels of homelessness. Homelessness and unemployment are inextricably linked, and action on the two issues together is beginning to respond to the regional priority of tackling unemployment. The emphasis on tackling worklessness is present both in the enhanced housing options agenda and the Places of Change agenda. The Places of Change agenda was seen to have had a big effect but with an uneven spread around the region, and the research identifies that there is still a great deal to do to bring temporary/ supported accommodation up to a consistent standard of good quality buildings, staffing and services, and outcomes which see homeless people being helped to transform their lives for good. 6

8 The need to increase housing supply and to create a stock mix which matches the aspirations of those living in the region is a critical issue for homelessness. Many contributors to the research were concerned about the impact of the removal of the Supporting People ring-fence. Removal of the ring-fence offers opportunities to commission integrated services, and encourage innovation, but carries the risk of funding being removed from homeless client groups in order to provide funding for other groups, particularly those for whom the local authority has a statutory responsibility, such as older people. There were mixed views about the impact of stock transfer, but strong views that ALMOs have had a positive impact on homelessness, having been able to use their stock flexibly to respond to local authority homelessness agendas. The private rented sector is both a cause of homelessness and a solution to homelessness, and improving management in the sector and driving up physical standards are key tools in preventing and tackling homelessness. There is thought to be much greater scope for sharing good practice across authorities and encouraging shared and common approaches. The increasing number of asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrant workers who are homeless is putting some areas and services under significant pressure. There were examples given of policy responses from individual local authorities to overcome the problem of restricted Local Housing Allowances leading to young people being treated differently in different areas. Our work highlights that rough sleeping is a more significant problem than indicated by official statistics. The Rough Sleeping Strategy was seen as a key driver for change, but again with different responses around the region. Assessment of the impact on homelessness of national policies 00 7

9 What good practice is there in the region, and what needs to be either rolled out across the region or brought in from elsewhere in the country? There is much excellent practice in the North East, both in responding to and preventing homelessness. Initiatives starting in the North East are frequently mentioned at national level, and the Good Practice Compendium produced as part of this research contains many examples of schemes from the North East being cited in national publications. However, key elements of good practice are not present in all areas, and outcomes of work to prevent and respond to homelessness vary a great deal around the region. A baseline of good practice the key things we would expect every local authority to have in place has been developed to identify what is and is not happening I was lucky I got a good worker who did not let me down she stuck with me it should not be luck should it? (young person, Barnardos research) in each area, with the aim of encouraging organisations in the region to provide a more consistent offer for people facing or at risk of homelessness. To accompany this, the Compendium highlights as good practice only those national initiatives, projects and schemes which go beyond the baseline; these may be developments which build on the areas in the baseline, new ideas or improved ways of delivering services in terms of ease of delivery, impact or value for money, and provide ideas which can be rolled out across the region. Case study: Barry Drinking and taking drugs was a way of life that Barry embraced from the age of 14, but when he got to his mid-20s and found that he didn t like it any longer, everything had fallen apart. The madness of his life meant that his family would have nothing to do with him, he had no money, he could no longer represent Britain as a boxer, and he was homeless. He slept in parks, derelict buildings, on the beach, and in the cars he broke into. Barry spent over five years sleeping rough and trying to get over his addictions. He got somewhere to live but was about to lose it, with over 1500 of arrears, when his mother got in touch and he saw his desperate situation through her eyes. A social worker got him an offer of a drug rehabilitation scheme and negotiated with the council to let him keep his flat on and try again when he came out of rehab. Today Barry is a support worker with the ACE Project (Adults Facing Chronic Exclusion) in Newcastle, a scheme originally funded through the Cabinet Office. He began his path back to a normal life by volunteering at Trading Places, a service-user-led day service. In October 2007, Barry was taken on as one of the first team members of ACE, and now he provides advice and all types of support to people who are homeless and socially excluded, does outreach work to find people, refers them into the rough sleeping case management system, helps them to get into treatment, and to get back on their feet. He s married, has a great relationship with his family, and has a cat, a job and a car. I was a burden and now I m giving something back, helping people to find out about the choices they can make How is data about homelessness collected in the region and how could this be improved? At present, only three of the local authorities in the North East regularly collect and analyse data about all households facing homelessness in their area. Of the other 12, two are adopting systems with this purpose in mind, whilst the remaining five have no systems in place as yet. Several of these authorities use a data-recording system which we do not believe is capable of supporting data collection and analysis of housing options services, identifying outcomes of advice, prevention and homelessness responses for all client groups, and identifying gaps in services in order to inform commissioning and development of other actions. 8

10 We have given examples around the country of how the collection of data beyond P1E has been used to inform regional and sub-regional, approaches to tackling and preventing homelessness. We suggest that a more uniform approach to data collection and analysis is needed across the North East. This will enable the region to be confident that in future there is a better understanding of the true scale and nature of need, and that all agencies can work together on those actions which are known to produce positive outcomes to prevent and tackle homelessness, reducing the geographic differences that currently exist. We also need to learn more about the costs of not preventing homelessness. Recommendations Policy recommendations: Addressing imbalances within the region Agree a regional vision about what will be different for people who face repeat homelessness, people who are rough sleeping and people with a number of needs. Complete this by an agreed date and communicate how this will be achieved. This should involve housing, health, criminal justice, social care and economic partners, and the voluntary and community sector. Priorities for action should be committed to through a multi-area agreement whilst local areas should provide a local plan that contributes to this Address the imbalances and gaps in emergency accommodation through regional guidelines about minimum levels of provision for all groups Roll out the development of prevention approaches, enhanced housing options, and Places of Change ethos to provide broader options for all groups in all local areas, with a focus on reshaping services so that homelessness is prevented for all groups of people who might face homelessness Reduce the number of empty homes through a region-wide policy on tackling the problem, with rural areas and small towns being early targets. Build dialogue with partners Promote dialogue with other partners (such as health and prison services) about their roles and policy objectives to support prevention work Develop regional dialogue and a regional agreement on allocations, so that all social housing providers in the region support the work to help more homeless people to access sustainable housing solutions Improve the consistency of approach to prevention through a regional learning network on addressing and prevention homelessness which shares both tools and lessons about what works, eg, Gateways, reconnection issues, protocols, policies and strategies Reduce the number of prisoners who are likely to be homeless on leaving prison by using systems thinking principles for identifying where action is needed to prevent their homelessness; make use of the learning from Total Place pilots; and use this information to relaunch the North East Housing and Resettlement Protocol (HARP) Develop a methodology for measuring the cost benefits of preventing, and not preventing, homelessness amongst non-priority households in the North East. 9

11 Practice-based actions Set regional targets and standards to bring standards up across the region Set regional standards and targets aimed at: Achieving the good practice baseline set out below within all authorities in the region Reducing the use of B&B for under-18s by YOTs, Children s Services and others, and the use of B&B for both families and single non-priorities outside their home area Identifying young people at risk of homelessness, so as to prevent need for services at a later stage Inspecting B&Bs Notification about moves into temporary accommodation outside the home area, and associated risks Reducing the rate of evictions from supported and social housing Collecting data about all homeless and potentially homeless households so as to provide richer data throughout the region about those who are not in priority need or who may not contact the statutory homelessness services. Enable all homeless adults to have access to emergency accommodation through the development of a regional nightstop scheme, and the establishment of out-of hours services in all areas for all client groups Improve the outcomes of housing support work with homeless groups and those at risk of homelessness by developing more integrated work between homeless and Supporting People teams, more cross-boundary work, Gateway schemes, and improved training for support workers Reduce the incidence of rough sleeping throughout the region through jointly-funded services, referral and re-connection protocols, and common monitoring of outcomes. Promote inter-agency work Further reduce youth homelessness by developing more early intervention through work with schools, Children s Services and health services Improve the outcomes of housing support work by developing more cross-cutting work between homeless and Supporting People teams, including cross-boundary work and developing Gateway schemes Target work to help homeless households to access sustainable settled housing through better information sharing and monitoring of outputs and outcomes from lettings to homeless households and those at risk of homelessness for all areas. Other actions Carry out research on the reasons for people who face homelessness not making use of homelessness/housing options services, and learn from examples of services which enable homeless people to access help in agencies other than statutory services Improve access to housing for refugees by securing funding for additional housing advisers and floating support services for refugees and develop materials in different languages, to explain how housing systems work, and what to do when a decision letter arrives; and enforce better practices in ending NASS accommodation Improve access to and conditions in the private rented sector through the development of a regional accreditation scheme, and by promoting better enforcement Promote action to address worklessness, so as to break the cycle of (inter-generational) homelessness 10

12 Promote more monitoring of the effect of policies on homelessness prevention and responses, and of the cost of not responding to or preventing homelessness Reduce repeat homelessness by promoting systems for tracking and reducing repeat homelessness within and across the 12 authorities in the region. The full report, Filling in the picture: Homelessness in the North East and learning what can be done about it, can be found on the ANEC website along with appendices and annexes. The research has also made use of early findings from the Barnardos research in the North East: Making change happen routes into and out of homelessness for young people aged