Strengths and weaknesses of the
resettlement of single homeless people:
the FOR-HOME evidence
Tony Warnes and Maureen Crane
University of Sheffield
Making Research Count, University of Keele
9 December 2010
Topics
 The FOR-HOME study
 The main findings
 The practice and policy implications
________________________________________
The study was designed and implemented in partnership with six
homelessness sector organisations …
Partner organisations
Funded by Economic and Social Research Council
Study design and data collection
 The sample: 400 single homeless people resettled
into independent accommodation by the
collaborating organisations. Two clusters: London,
and Nottingham / Leeds / Sheffield (Notts/Yorks).
 Semi-structured interviews conducted immediately
before being resettled, and after 6 and 15/18 months.
Key-worker also completed questionnaire at
baseline.
 Interviews from June 2007 to November 2009.
The main
findings
Housing tenure by region
Tenure
London
Notts /
Yorks
Total
Percentages
Local authority
30
71
48
Housing association
54
18
38
Private rented
17
11
14
Sample sizes
(223)
(177)
(400)
Housing outcomes at 15/18 months by region
London
Notts/Yorks
Outcome
%
%
Number
%
In original accommodation
80
64
292
73
Moved to another tenancy
4
10
27
8
Returned to homelessness
6
10
32
8
Unknown if homeless
6
6
24
6
In prison or rehab.
1
5
10
3
(223)
(177)
(400)
Sample sizes
Total
Notes: Excludes four who had died. Among those described as homeless, 12 were staying
with relatives / friends, and 20 had returned to streets or hostels.
Housing outcomes at 15/18 months by tenure
100
87
Percentage of respondents
81
Local authority
Housing association
Private landlord
75
50
47
27
22
25
11
5
7
New tenancy
No tenancy
5
3
1
4
0
Original
tenancy
Left:
whereabouts
unknown
Excludes four who had died, and 25 for whom it is unknown if they were still in a tenancyon. ‘No tenancy’
includes those staying with relatives or friends, sleeping rough or who had been readmitted to a hostel, and in
a hospital or drugs rehabilitation unit. .
Type of accommodation in which resettled by
housing outcome at 15/18 months
90
88
84
Percentages
75
60
42
45
32
26
30
15
5
7
8
8
0
Self-contained flat
Original accomm
Studio flat
Changed tenancy
Bedsit
Homeless
Resettlement works for most, but many also have problems
Percentage of respondents
100
86
85
80
65
60
51
57
67
63
72
68
67
48
47
61
54
40
20
11
2
0
No bed
Local authority
No cooker
Housing association
No chair
No floor covering
Private-rented
Total
Basic furniture and equipment not possessed when moved in
Average rent arrears (£) at 15/18 months by tenure
350
305
6 months
15/18 months
300
Pounds (£s)
250
187
200
131
150
110
105
100
50
61
42
38
0
Local authority
Housing
association
Private-rented
Total
Percentages with debts over time (£)
Percentage of respondents
90
83
72
75
57
60
45
67
66
65
57
52
46
45
44
45
30
15
0
Local authority
Housing
association
when resettled
Private-rented
6 months
Total
15/18 months
Percentages with tenancy support
75
Percentage of respondents
61
60
47
45
30
47
42
Month 1
38
28
35
27
25
25
17
15
15
0
Local authority
Housing
association
Month 6
Private landlord
Total
Month 18
Practice and policy
implications
Resettlement preparation
 Many of those resettled have only a sketchy idea of the
challenges they will face – and a few are over-confident.
Preparation could be improved with:
 More attention to personal financial projections and
planning
 More peer advice from those who have recently been
resettled
 More active help with obtaining basic furniture (or with
loans of camp-beds, hobs or microwaves)
Resettlement support
 Many people run into financial problems, and among those who
lose a job or go into full-time education, these can quickly turn
from manageable to severe
Advice and support could be improved with:
 More targeting of tenancy support to those who are most
inexperienced and vulnerable
 More continuity of treatment programmes for drug and alcohol
dependency and problems
 More intensive support of those who move into the privaterented sector or into high rent properties
Our warm thanks to …
All the respondents who participated in this study over a very long time.
Sarah Coward, the Research Associate, who carried out the majority of
the interviews in Yorks/Notts. Ruby Fu, Camilla Mercer and Louise Joly
who have helped massively with running the project and coding the data.
The freelance interviewers – Gary Bellamy, Paul Gilsenan, Louise Joly
and John Miles.
Members of the Management Committee: David Fisher (Broadway),
Caroline Day and Jennifer Monfort (Centrepoint), Peter Radage and
Rachel Harding (Framework), Julie Robinson and Tony Beech (St
Anne’s), Simon Hughes and George Miller (St Mungo’s), and John
Crowther and Debra Ives (Thames Reach), and to all their colleagues
who have been Link Workers or have otherwise assisted with
recruitment and tracking.
Implications for resettlement of recent
government announcements on Housing
Benefit, social security benefits, Supporting People, and social housing tenancies.
Tony Warnes and Maureen Crane
University of Sheffield
Making Research Count, University of Keele
9 December 2010
The Coalition Government’s ambitions
 Reduce public expenditure
 Reduce the ‘size of the state’
 Reduce welfare dependency – ‘welfare to work’, and
improve life chances of the most disadvantages
 Protect the most vulnerable; reduce homelessness
 Promote social enterprise
Housing benefit changes
The problem
Rapid increase in cost of HB in recent years, ‘largely a
result of steep increases in private-sector rents driven by
economic factors and the severe shortage of housing.
Between 97/98 and 07/08, the average private-sector rent
rose by 63%, from £79/week to £129/week. For many
years, HB has been taking the strain of rent increases.’
‘The cost of HB is expected to rise to £20 billion this year
with the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), a form of HB in
the private-rented sector (PRS), costing £2.6 billion in
2009-10’.
Source: Crisis 2010. Housing Benefit. Policy Briefing, Crisis.
Housing benefit changes
The proposals
Three phases of LHA cuts have been announced.
From April 2011, it will be capped at from £250 per week (1
bedroom property) to £400 (4 bedrooms).
In October 2011, the LHA will be set at the 30th percentile
level of local rents (currently the 50th percentile).
From 2013/14, the allowances will be up-rated using the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) not local rent comparisons.
The effect will be to rein in LHA payments and reduce the
ability of people on low incomes to live in higher rent
properties and areas. form of HB in the private-rented
sector (PRS), costing £2.6 billion in 2009-10’.
Housing benefit changes
Government determined to press ahead. Proposals being
examined by HC Social Security (DWP) Committee
BBC: 30 November 2010
Housing benefit cap delayed for current claimants
• Ministers have confirmed Housing Benefit caps will be
delayed for people who already claim it.
• The new £400-a-week limit was due to begin from April
2011, with another cut in benefit rates due in October,
but existing claimants are to be given until January 2012
to give them time to negotiate lower rents, or move.
Supporting People (SP) programme
The problem
SP was introduced in 2003. The initial funding of £1.8 billion was to be
used to support the delivery of housing-related support (i.e. housing
with support) to vulnerable people, including:
• homeless people;
• people with learning difficulties
• people with mental health problems;
• young people leaving care;
• women experiencing domestic violence;
• vulnerable gypsies and travellers;
• older people;
• offenders;
• refugees
• teenage parents
Value for money has improved. The overall value of the grant has fallen
since the start of the programme. In 2008/09 the total grant was £1.686
billion but the numbers of service users supported nationally slightly
increased and quality has improved (Audit Commission Supporting
People Review 2009).
Supporting People (SP) programme
The proposals
Over the next spending review period (2011-15), the SP
budget will be reduced by £6 billion (11.5%, lower than
many other CLG programmes).
The government stresses that it wishes to protect support
for vulnerable people, but as local authorities have to
implement an estimated 10 per cent budget cut in 2011-12,
SP is changing from an area-based to a formula grant, and
it is no longer ring fenced, it may be expected that ‘less
intensive’ services such as floating support for formerly
homeless people will be disproportionately cut.
The role of social housing
The problem
• Greatly reduced investment in social housing compared
with 30 years ago.
• Increasing shortage of ‘affordable’ or low cost housing
• Growing waiting lists -- there are nearly 5 million people
on waiting lists for social housing. A quarter of a million
social homes are ‘overcrowded’, while 400,000 are
‘under-occupied’ (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_192629)
for formerly homeless people will be disproportionately cut.
Consultation runs for 8 weeks
from 22 November to 5pm on
17 January 2011
Photo credit:
http://www.timothyfoster.co.uk
The role of social housing
The proposals
• Rents for new social housing tenancies will be at 80 per
cent of local market rents. Rents for existing tenants will
not be changed.
• a new "local authority flexible tenancy" with a minimum
fixed term of two years for new tenants, although
councils "would be free to set a fixed term of 10 years,
20 years or longer". A key feature is that a household's
changing circumstances should be periodically assessed
to see if requirements need to change – with housing
associations having to evict people if they refuse to go.
Implications for the
resettlement of
homeless people
Implications for the resettlement of homeless people
• More reliance on private-rented sector
• Less housing space and quality (lower LHA/HB)
• Shorter tenancies
• Less incentive for a homeless person to live
independently?
• Likely to increase abandonments and returns to
homelessness?
• Difficult to sustain the high success rate of
resettlement during 2007-09
Contact details
Tony Warnes: a.warnes@sheffield.ac.uk
Maureen Crane: m.a.crane@sheffield.ac.uk
www.shef.ac.uk/sisa/research/fields/homeless