Enhanced Housing Options Greenwich Council

1
Enhanced Housing OptionsGreenwich Council

• Jo Beck- Senior Policy Officer, Greenwich
  Neighbourhood Services
• 18th September 2008

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Local Context Greenwich

• The 24th most deprived borough in England and
  Wales, and 8th in London (highest in SELHP)
• 56.5 teenage pregnancy rate (40.7 nationally,
  45.4 London, 55.7 for Inner London)
• 9.6 16-18 year olds NEET
• 5th highest in England and Wales for households
  headed by a lone parent
• 5000 per annum DV incidents reported to police,
  45 of which have an alcohol indicator

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Local context Greenwich

• 17600 households on the housing register
• 2150 have reasonable preference
• Large decant programmes underway
• Overcrowding
• 521 households lack 2 bedrooms or more of which
• 426 lack 2 bedrooms
• 71 lack 3 bedrooms
• 25 lack 4 bedrooms

4
Performance TA Target

• Greenwich has demonstrated the ability to turn
  around poor performance.
• 2005-06 31st in London boroughs in TA reduction
  performance
• June 2006 TA reduction plan agreed with CLG
• 2006-07 and 2007-08 top performing borough
• TA reduced by 51 between June 2006 and June 2008

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Performance - Prevention

• BVPI 213 performance in top quartile
• 932 households were prevented from becoming
  homeless through housing advice and casework
  2007-08
• Homeless Acceptances cases reduced to 373 (970 in
  05/06, 610 in 06/07)

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Performance CBL

• Greenwich Homes CBL launched in November 2004
• Lettings scheme which is easy to understand and
  transparent
• Properties advertised via Greenwich Time
  delivered to all homes, bidding via accessible
  website, and phone with language support.
• Accessible options information and advice
• Equality monitoring and action plans
• Over 90 acceptance rate of properties offered
• Weekly bidding cycle implemented February 2008

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Enhanced Housing Options

• Build on partnership and prevention to develop
  earlier interventions to people in housing need
• Develop a more holistic approach- tackling
  worklessness as well as housing need
• Bring together action to tackle overcrowding, to
  support vulnerable adults, and to assist home
  owners and tenants of landlords at risk of
  mortgage reposession
• Link housing opportunities to employment,
  training, health and well being opportunities
  through choice based lettings and homeless
  intervention

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Enhanced Housing Options Service
Enhanced Housing Options Manager
1 x Admin Officer
1 x Young Peoples Access Co-ordinator
1 x Senior Housing Options Officer
1 x Substance Misuse Team Co-ordinator
1 x Project Manager (Overcrowding)
1 x Senior Housing Support Officer (Young
People)
1 x Senior Housing Support Officer (Families)
2 x Housing Options Officers
2 x Visiting Officers
2 x Housing Support Officers
1 x Housing Support Officer (Drug
Intervention Project)
1 x Housing Support Officer (Probation)
1 x Domestic Violence Project Worker
4 x Housing Support Officers
3 x Housing Support Officers
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Meeting the needs of socially excluded adults
Resettlement of Offenders

• 3 of the top 6 London wards for numbers of
  prisoners released, are in Greenwich
• 33 of 594 offenders assessed by Probation
  Service in 2007-08 had an accommodation need
• 62 have drug and/or alcohol problem
• 72 have employment/training need
• 63 have a mental health need
• 72 are identified at medium to high risk of harm
• 28 are aged 18-25
• HMP BELMARSH
• Around 70 per month planned discharges of which
  20-25 are Greenwich residents.

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Prisoners told us

• Strong link between homelessness and re-offending
• Pre planning/assessment, knowing what the options
  are before they come out
• No tie up between housing and employment
  opportunities

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Meeting the needs of socially excluded adults
Resettlement of Offenders

• Joint interventions to prevent loss of
  tenancy/abandonment going into prison
• Accessible information provided at the prison
• Housing Options Clinic in Belmarsh for earlier
  assessment, advice, referral
• Criminal Justice and Substance Misuse Team- to
  support people into accommodation or to sustain
  tenancies
• Supported Procurement Service NewTrack
  identifies private rented options with support
• Women Leaving Prison Reunite Scheme to resettle
  women with children

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Enhanced Options for other Vulnerable Adults

• Support work of Mental Health and Housing Panel
  which identifies and intervenes to prevent
  homelessness and support independent living
• Support multi agency interventions to tackle
  domestic violence and reduce homelessness
• Development of services to meet multiple needs

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Enhanced Options for Young People

• Work with Young Peoples Access Coordinator, YOT
  housing support worker, SP providers and partners
  to intervene where YP at risk of homelessness
• Assist YP accessing the new short stay joint
  assessment/respite provision
• Work alongside Connexions and others to deliver
  outreach advice and assistance to tackle
  homelessness, worklessness, and improve health
  and well being
• Contribute to the prevention message delivered
  through our peer education programme in schools

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Improve options advice to others in housing need

• Expand visiting and outreach services to people
  on the housing register who are overcrowded/in
  housing need
• Increase private rented and low cost home
  ownership options and broaden access to these
• Promote housing options through events, publicity
  and information and partners

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Tackling Worklessness

• Employment and Skills Advisers Staff working
  within service and in outreach
• Expand the role of Welfare Benefit Officers
• Target information to tenants affected by benefit
  rule changes
• Joint targets with Connexions to move homeless
  16-17 year olds from NEET to EET
• CBL website link to employment/training advice
  for people moving into and within Greenwich

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Strategic Vision

• Enhanced Housing Options will support delivery of
  LAA Targets
• To reduce
• Reoffending youth offending, prolific and
  priority offenders
• Repeat incidents of DV
• Under 18 conception rate
• Number of 16-18 year olds who are NEET
• Working age people on out of work benefits
• Proportion of people claiming out of work
  benefits in the worst performing neighbourhoods
• And to increase
• Working age population qualified to at least
  level 2 or higher
• Number of vulnerable people achieving independent
  living
• Care leavers in employment, education and
  training