Harrogate Borough Council
Review of the 2008-13 Homelessness
Strategy and Revised Homelessness
Strategy for 2013-2018
(Approved by Cabinet 23rd April 2014)
Homelessness Review 2013
Contents
Page
1.
Introduction
3
2.
Strategic Context
4
3.
Homelessness in the Harrogate District
5
4.
Preventing Homelessness
16
5.
Temporary Accommodation
28
6.
Youth Homelessness
34
7.
Support Services
37
8.
Affordable Housing
43
9.
Financial Inclusion
52
10.
Summary of Key Actions
59
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1.
Introduction
This document reviews local trends to determine Harrogate Borough Council’s
Homelessness Strategy for 2013-2018. Due to the diverse nature of homelessness,
addressing the issue is not the prerogative or responsibility of a single organisation or
agency but requires the coordination of interventions, expertise and resources across a
wide range of partners.
The Council’s first statutory homelessness strategy was published in 2003 and initiated
a period of rapid change in the way homelessness was dealt with. The 2008-13
strategy built on this and set out a multi-agency approach to tackling homelessness and
supporting homeless households in Harrogate District. This approach continues in this
2013-2018 strategy, though the strategy’s ambitions recognise the current pressures
and resource constraints under which the Council and its partners are operating,
resulting in fewer but more targeted key actions. These will be translated into more
detailed annual action plans throughout the life of the strategy.
Under the 2002 Homelessness Act, the Council has a statutory duty to review and
refresh its Homelessness Strategy every five years. This review has been done using
the following processes:

Review of 2008-13 priorities and performance

Review of homelessness in the Borough in accordance with CLG guidance

Review of national, regional, sub-regional and local policy drivers and established
best practice.
 Consultation with stakeholders
Five of the priorities for homelessness have remained largely unchanged from the 2007
review, but with an additional priority to deal with the outcomes arising from the
currently emerging national Welfare Reforms, which it is widely anticipated have the
potential to significantly increase homelessness. This is being done within the wider
context of supporting the delivery of the Council’s broader Financial Inclusion Strategy.
The six key priorities are:
Reducing
homelessness
through
prevention
Reducing the use
of and improving
the standard of
temporary
accommodation
Reducing the
incidence of youth
homelessness
Improving access
to support
services to
prevent
homelessness
Increasing the
supply of
affordable
housing
Supporting
delivery of the
corporate
financial inclusion
strategy
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2.
Strategic Context
Making Every Contact Count and No Second Night Out
The Government published it Homelessness Prevention Plan “Making every contact
count: A joint approach to Homelessness” in August 2012.
The plan focuses on a more holistic partnership approach to tackling the root causes of
homelessness and proving better interventions and services to reduce homelessness in
the future. It follows “Vision to end rough sleeping: No second night out nationwide”,
which was published in July 2011 recommending a holistic approach specifically to
tackle rough sleeping.
The Council has signed up to the Making Every Contact Count principle and is
committed to working toward achieving the Gold Standard accreditation for it
homelessness services.
North Yorkshire Housing and Homelessness Strategy
The first county-wide North Yorkshire and York Homelessness Strategy was published
in 2008, covering the period 2008-12. In October 2012, this was reviewed and
amalgamated into the revised North Yorkshire Sub-Regional Housing and
Homelessness Strategy.
The sub-regional strategy recognises that “Our homelessness levels remain relatively
high because of the acute shortage of affordable housing and increasing pressure on
households due to welfare reform. Tackling homelessness remains a key priority with
North Yorkshire and York. This is an area where a well-established practice of joint
working has brought about a number of positive outcomes.
The sub-region proposes to:

Sustain and improve the prevention of homelessness;

Continue to reduce the use of temporary accommodation and improve the temporary
accommodation used;

Sustain and improve progress made in tackling youth homelessness;

Continue to ensure that housing support is available for homeless and vulnerable
people.”
Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2011
In 2011 the North Yorkshire sub-region commissioned its first joint Strategic Housing
Market Assessment (SHMA), which provided over-arching data for North Yorkshire and
York, plus detailed analysis at district level. Key findings for the Harrogate District were:

Between 2001 and 2009 Harrogate’s population grew by 3.5%. (The 2011Census
confirmed the population had grown from 151,339 in 2001 to 157,869 in 2011.)

Harrogate has high value residential and rental markets, with quality new properties
and conversions attracting premiums. This is reflected in rental values with a third of
renters paying over £650 a calendar month in 2011.
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3.

A high proportion of households are unable to access owner-occupation. In 2011 an
income of £62,500 was needed to purchase a property, whilst the average
household income was £24,700.

There was a net annual affordable housing need of 507 dwellings per year to 2016
to fully tackle the backlog of need and the newly arising need over that period.

Around 2,540 new properties of all tenures (averaging 362 per annum) were
delivered in Harrogate between 2004 and 2010. (279 additional affordable homes
were delivered between April 2008 and March 2013.)

Claimant count data from 2010 indicated that whilst Harrogate’s economy was
performing more strongly than North Yorkshire as a whole, increased
unemployment since the onset of the recession had been focussed on those in fulltime employment, with a resultant more significant impact on household incomes.

The greatest affordable housing need was for 1 and 2 bedroom dwellings (89%)
rather than larger 3 and 4+ bedroom dwellings (11%). The shortage of smaller
dwellings was having a disproportionate effect on Harrogate’s capability to address
its backlog of housing need and to meet the needs of new households in the future.
Homelessness in the Harrogate District
Homelessness has remained a significant pressure in the Harrogate district over the last
five years. Many agencies in the district work to help those in housing need including:




Housing Providers – Harrogate Borough Council, Registered Providers (RP’s),
Foundation, Women’s Refuge, Harrogate Homeless Project, NYCC
Floating Support Services – Stonham, Foundation, Leeds Federated, Horton, HBC
General Advice Providers – Citizens Advice Bureaux, Keyhouse
North Yorkshire Supporting People
Services provided by Harrogate Borough Council
The Council’s legal duty to homeless people is contained within Part Seven of the 1996
Housing Act and has been updated and amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and
the Suitability of Accommodation (England) Order 2012. The principal duty is an
obligation to secure that suitable alternative accommodation is made available for a
person who is:




Homeless or threatened with homelessness
Eligible for assistance
In priority need
Not intentionally homeless
A local authority may also identify whether or not a homeless person has a local
connection with the authority they are presenting to. The definition of local connection
used for homelessness purposes (from the Code of Guidance) is:
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



Current residence in the District for 6 out of the last 9 months or 3 out of the last 5
years, and/or
Close family living in the District, who have done so for at least 5 years, and/or
Employment in the District (not casual); and/or
Other special reason – e.g. needing specialist health care, religious reason.
The local connection criteria used for homelessness vary slightly from those currently
used for the Council’s housing waiting list, which are:




Current residence in the District for at least 2 years, and/or
Close family living in the District, who have done so for at least 5 years, and/or
Previous residence in the District for at least 10 years, and/or
Permanent employment in the District.
The local authority has a continuing duty to make sure that the applicant and his/her
household has accommodation until a settled solution is found or the duty ends for one
of a number of specified reasons.
The Council also has a duty to ensure that advice and information about homelessness
is available free of charge to anyone in the District.
The current Housing Needs Centre is responsible for the delivery of the Council’s
housing options and homelessness services. The centre is based at Victoria Park
House, Harrogate, though may be relocating to become part of a central Council-wide
Customer Access Point in Harrogate during the time-period of this strategy. Work done
by the front line Housing Needs team is supported by a Housing Policy & Strategy team,
a Development team (responsible for working with Registered Providers and land
owners to secure affordable housing), and a Private Sector Renewal team.
Homelessness Trends

Homelessness Applications and Decisions
The emphasis on homelessness prevention has continued to reduce the number of
formal homelessness applications to the authority. Formal homelessness applications
have reduced by 59% between 2008/9 and 2012/13, and acceptances of full rehousing
duty have reduced by 64% over the same period. 2012/13 saw the lowest ever level of
acceptances of full rehousing duty.
Decisions Made
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
Eligible, not intentional, priority need
151
81
76
77
53
Priority Need - Intentional
6
5
5
2
11
Eligible, non priority
13
6
6
5
5
Eligible, not homeless
12
6
9
15
6
Ineligible
1
0
0
1
0
TOTAL
183
98
96
100
75
(Source: P1E returns)
This reduction in decisions and acceptances of full rehousing duty can also be seen in
the graph below:
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Total decisions made,
of which resulting in full rehousing duty
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
183
151
98
100
96
81
77
76
Total decisions made
75
Full rehousing duty accepted
53
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
(Source: P1E returns)
The main reason for these reductions in both applications and acceptances of full
rehousing duty is the success of a wider range of homelessness prevention measures,
which will be looked at in more detail later in this section.

Ethnic groups of households approaching the Council as homeless
The majority of homelessness applications over the last five year review period were
from White applicants. However there does appear to be a higher percentage of
applications and full rehousing duty acceptances from Black households than would be
expected from the general population. This is in keeping with national figures about
homelessness in ethnic minority groups, the reasons for which are less clear.
Total decisions
White
Black
Asian
Mixed
Other
Not stated
TOTAL
Full rehousing duty
White
Black
Asian
Mixed
Other
Not stated
TOTAL
TOTALS
Number Percentage
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
171
3
3
4
2
0
183
89
8
0
1
0
0
98
88
4
2
2
0
0
96
95
1
2
1
0
1
100
81
2
0
1
1
10
95
524
18
7
9
3
11
572
91.61%
3.15%
1.22%
1.57%
0.52%
1.92%
Census 2011
- Percentage
of population
96.33%
0.73%
1.53%
1.12%
0.29%
-
140
3
3
3
1
1
151
73
8
0
0
0
0
81
68
4
2
2
0
0
76
73
1
2
1
0
0
77
51
2
0
1
0
7
61
405
18
7
7
1
8
446
90.81%
4.04%
1.57%
1.57%
0.22%
1.79%
96.33%
0.73%
1.53%
1.12%
0.29%
-
2008/09
(Source: P1E returns)
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
Reasons for applicants being in priority need
Trends over the last five years show that, of the households for which the Council
accepted a full rehousing duty, the main reasons for the household being in priority
need were:

Applicant whose household includes dependent children

Applicant is, or household includes, a pregnant women and there are no other
dependents

Vulnerable due to mental illness or disability

Vulnerable due to physical disability

Applicant aged 16 or 17
MAIN REASON FOR PRIORITY NEED
Including dependent children
Of which: 1 child
Of which: 2 children
Of which: 3 or more children
Pregnant woman with no other dependent
children
Vulnerable due to mental illness/disability
Vulnerable due to physical disability
Aged 16/17
Local authority Care leaver aged 18-20
Violence (any)
Of which: domestic violence
Emergency
Vulnerable due to old age
Special reason - former asylum seeker
Special reason - drug dependency
Special reason - alcohol dependency
Vulnerable due to having previously been in local
authority care
Vulnerable due to having previously been in
custody/on remand
Special reason – other
Vulnerable due to having previously served in the
Armed Forces
2008/09
74
38
28
8
20
2009/10
40
23
11
6
12
2010/11
38
17
16
5
12
2011/12
41
22
9
10
15
2012/13
30
16
10
4
10
Totals
223
116
74
33
69
22
8
15
4
3
2
0
1
1
1
1
1
8
6
13
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
7
12
5
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
6
8
1
4
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
6
4
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
49
38
34
11
4
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
(Source: P1E returns)
Compared to the last review (covering 2003-2008) there has been an increase in the
number of households accepted who are vulnerable due to mental illness/disability and
physical disability.
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
Reasons for loss of last settled accommodation
The reasons for loss of last settled accommodation have remained similar to those over
the previous (2003/4 to 2007/8) review period. The main reasons for households losing
their last settled accommodation during the last five years were:

Parents no longer willing to accommodate

Termination of Assured Shorthold tenancy

Violent breakdown of relationship, involving partner

Family and friends no longer willing to accommodate

Non-violent breakdown of relationship

Mortgage arrears

Violent breakdown of relationship, involving associated persons
There were also a higher number of households who did not fall into any of the
prescribed categories on the statutory monitoring records for reasons for loss of
accommodation. Manual checking of records shows that the majority of these were
households who had lost accommodation tied to their employment at the start of the
review period – this seems to largely be a one-off issue in 2008/9 and has not continued
to be a trend.
MAIN REASON FOR HOMELESSNESS
Parents no longer willing to accommodate
Termination of Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Violent relationship breakdown with partner
Other reason for loss of last settled home
Other relatives/friends no longer willing to accommodate
Non-violent breakdown of relationship with partner
Mortgage arrears (repossession/home loss)
Violent breakdown of relationship with other associated
persons
Other harassment, threats or intimidation
Rent arrears - private sector
Left institutional or LA care - prison or on remand
Other loss of rented/tied accommodation
Left institutional or LA care - other
Other violence
Required to leave National Asylum Support Service
accommodation
Left institutional or LA care - hospital
Lost home because left HM forces
Rent arrears - public sector
Rent arrears - Registered Provider
Racially motivated violence
Racially motivated harassment, threats or intimidation
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
TOTAL
43
17
22
21
11
11
5
20
6
15
7
6
4
4
15
12
12
2
5
6
3
10
20
9
8
9
5
4
5
13
6
4
6
6
2
93
68
64
42
37
32
18
9
0
2
0
3
14
3
2
2
2
1
0
4
0
4
5
1
2
2
7
2
2
1
1
2
4
1
0
2
1
3
1
1
0
1
0
14
14
10
9
6
4
1
1
1
0
0
3
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
3
3
2
2
0
0
(Source: P1E returns)
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
Age and household composition of homeless households
The majority of households for which the Council accepted a full rehousing duty were
aged 44 or under. This is because the Council has a significant amount of its own
housing stock which is designated for people aged 45 or over, so households aged 45
and above can usually be made an offer of accommodation from the Council’s housing
list without having to make a formal homelessness application.
Age of applicant when full homelessness duty accepted
250
200
2012/13
150
2011/12
2010/11
100
2009/10
2008/09
50
0
16 - 24
25 - 44
45 - 59
60 - 64
65 - 74
75 & over
(Source: P1E returns)
As would be expected from the reasons for priority need, the majority of households for
which the Council accepted a full rehousing duty had dependent children, the majority of
which were lone parent households.
HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION
Households with dependent children
Of which, female lone parent
Of which, couple
Of which, male lone parent
Single person households
Of which, male
Of which, female
Other households

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 TOTALS
283
90
52
50
54
37
61
40
30
29
27
187
22
11
15
24
10
82
7
1
5
1
0
14
134
52
26
25
19
12
31
15
17
9
10
82
21
11
8
10
2
52
21
9
3
1
4
4
(Source: P1E returns)
Repeat Homelessness
Repeat homelessness is not a major issue in the District. The table below shows the
number of instances.
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 TOTALS
Instances of repeat
homelessness
6
4
6
6
0
20
(Source: P1E returns: Section E1a BV201 to 2011/12 then Section E1a1 S195a duties on P1E returns from 2012/13)
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
Rough Sleepers
Up until 2009, local authorities were required to carry out a rough sleeper count on a
specified single night in their areas. Obviously with the large geographical area of the
District and the fact that many rough sleepers will seek to conceal themselves, this is
not a particularly robust measure of rough sleeping in the District.
Since 2010 the Council has moved to an estimate using information from local agencies
who have contact with rough sleepers, though it is recognised that is it still just a
snapshot of the number of rough sleepers in a single specified night and there is a
much higher number of people who drift in and out of rough sleeping, interspersed with
sofa-surfing with friends or staying in some other form of temporary accommodation.
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Total
0
0
5
5
8
Estimate or Count
Count
Count
Estimate
Estimate
Estimate
(Source: DCLG Rough Sleeper returns)
The Government’s “Vision to end rough sleeping: No second night out nationwide” was
published in July 2011. Following the success of a “No Second Night Out” project
piloted in London, the focus of the national plan is on single homeless people who are
not in ‘priority need’, including those who are living on the streets and those who are at
the greatest risk of rough sleeping because they have lived on the streets or are living in
insecure accommodation, such as hostels or shelters. Rough sleeping is the most
visible form of homelessness and where people are the most vulnerable.
The Government also recognises that tackling rough sleeping is not just about providing
housing, but getting local support agencies and other service providers to co-ordinate
their services for the benefit of rough sleepers or those at risk of rough sleeping.
The national No Second Night Out (NSNO) vision has been rolled nationally, with the
North Yorkshire sub-region receiving some financial assistance from the Department of
Communities and Local Government, and some specific Homeless Link Transitions
Funding being awarded to the local Harrogate NSNO project.
The NSNO service aims to stop rough sleepers having to spend a second night out by
finding them an offer of accommodation. Participating agencies can refer potential
rough sleepers to NSNO team, who can arrange emergency accommodation work with
them to agree a plan of action, and facilitate a single service offer of accommodation
suitable to their needs. This may include supported housing, assistance to find private
rented accommodation, or, for people with no local connection, help to find
accommodation in an area in which they do have a local connection.
Between the local NSNO service opening in October 2011 and the end of March 2013,
84 rough sleepers have received assistance.
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 Homelessness Prevention
During the period 2008/09 there have been a total of 3,112 successful homelessness
preventions, with a further 383 attempts at homeless prevention that did not succeed.
Numbers of Homelessness Preventions
800
700
600
500
400
Successful
300
Unsuccessful
200
100
0
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
(Source: P1E returns)
The numbers and types of positive interaction used to successfully to prevent
homelessness are shown below:
Type of positive action to prevent or relieve homelessness
(Source:P1E returns)
Resolving Housing Benefit problems
Other assistance to remain in rented accomm
Private Rented Sector with landlord incentive scheme
Social housing - accommodation secured via Housing List
Private Rented Sector without landlord incentive scheme
Mortgage arrears intervention/mortgage rescue
Resolving rent/service charge arrears
Negotiation/legal advocacy to remain in Private Rented Sector
Supported accomm
Debt advice
Mediation by mediators
Accomm arranged with friends/relatives
Hostel/HMO with or without support
Conciliation
Crisis intervention - emergency support
Sanctuary scheme measures (domestic abuse)
Other assistance to remain in rented accomm
Social housing - management move oir Council tenant
Social housing - housing association offer secured
Financial assistance
Other
Low cost home ownership scheme
0
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100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
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Homelessness Review 2013
Housing List and Council Lettings

Numbers on the Housing Waiting List
The Council keeps a Housing Waiting List so it can let Council properties and make
nominations to homes let by Registered Providers in the District. The number of
households on the Housing List has remained largely static over the review period.
Applicants registered on Housing Waiting List
at end of each quarter
3500
3000
2500
Housing
Register
HBC Transfer
applicants
2000
1500
1000
0

2008/09…
2008/09…
2009/08…
2008/09…
2009/10…
2009/10…
2009/10…
2009/10…
2010/11…
2010/11…
2010/11…
2010/11…
2011/12…
2011/12…
2011/12…
2011/12…
2012/13…
2012/13…
2012/13…
2012/13…
500
(Source: Corporate Covalent monitoring system)
Council Lettings
During the review period the Council has re-let between 300 and 350 properties per
year. As mentioned previously, some of these properties are age restricted. Work is
currently underway to reduce the number of properties with age restrictions, partly to
address ongoing homelessness issues and partly to address the current pressures for
existing tenants to downsize due to the current welfare benefit reforms.
Total Harrogate Borough Council lettings
400
350
300
250
200
Total HBC lettings
150
100
50
0
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
(Source: Corporate Covalent monitoring system)
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
Allocations Policy
The Council currently operates a points-based allocation system whereby points are
awarded to reflect needs. Everyone has the right to make an application for housing.
However, the Council gives reasonable preference to the following statutorily defined
“reasonable preference” groups:

people who are homeless;

people occupying insanitary or overcrowded housing, or otherwise living in
unsatisfactory housing conditions;

people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;

people who need to move to a particular locality in the district of the housing
authority, where failure to meet that need would cause hardship;

households which contain previously serving members of the Armed Forces.
The Council also operates discretionary “special case” arrangements, where unlimited
points can be awarded to applicants in urgent housing need whose circumstances
cannot be properly reflected in the currently agreed points-based system.
Priority for a vacancy will normally be given to applicants whose household size most
appropriately matches the number of bedrooms available. Whilst previously the
allocations policy allowed under-occupation by one bedroom in certain circumstances,
the introduction of the bedroom size criteria for social housing tenants in receipt of
Housing Benefit means that offers are no longer be made which result in underoccupation in Housing Benefit terms.
The Council’s housing allocations policy is being fully reviewed during 2013/14.

Special Needs
In order to make sure the Council assesses special needs correctly, a number of joint
protocols for specific needs groups have been developed under the current policy. This
allows all agencies who provide support to an individual to contribute to the assessment
of an individual's living and support needs.
The protocols have been set up for the following client groups:







Families with children who are found to be intentionally homeless.
Homeless 16/17 year olds.
Homeless people with mental health or substance abuse problems.
Homeless elderly, learning disabled or physically disabled.
Young people leaving care.
Ex-offenders leaving custody.
People leaving the armed forces.
These protocols will be reviewed as part of the current allocations policy review.
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Monitoring Performance
The main source of statistics in relation to housing advice and homelessness continues
to be the quarterly P1E return to the Department of Communities and Local
Government and the key local performance indicators.

P1E Returns
The core P1E statistics record all types of decisions made in relation to homeless
applicants with a detailed breakdown in information for those applicants where a full
duty is accepted. In addition, the P1E return contains a snapshot breakdown of
households accommodated in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter.

Local Performance Indicators
The Council monitors corporately local indicators on the numbers and length of stay of
households in temporary accommodation and the number of homelessness
preventions.

Other Local Monitoring
The Cabinet Member (Housing) will oversee the implementation of the Homelessness
strategy and delivery of the action plan., as well as routinely monitoring performance of
homelessness services. They are also informally monitored externally via regular
reports to the Harrogate District Housing Forum. In addition, the Housing Needs
Manager has quarterly progress review meetings with the Head of Housing.
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Homelessness Review 2013
PRIORITY 1: PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS
REVIEW FINDINGS
The 3 main causes of homelessness within Harrogate and District continue to be:
 Parents and relatives no longer able or willing to accommodate the household
 Loss of Assured Shorthold Tenancy (private rented accommodation)
 Violent relationship breakdown
During the period 2008/9 to 2012/13 a total of 552 formal homelessness decisions
were made with the Council accepting a full rehousing duty for 438 households.
Numbers of decisions on formal homelessness applications and acceptances of full
rehousing duty have both fallen significantly since 2008/9, reaching an all-time low in
2012/13.
This reduction in statutory homelessness is primarily due to the change in emphasis
towards homelessness prevention. During the five year review period 3,112
successful homelessness preventions were made.
A successful Homelessness Prevention Fund and Rent Deposit Guarantee scheme
was established in 2008.
The new local No Second Night Out service to tackle rough sleeping was established
in October 2012. It is already having a positive impact in addressing rough sleeping,
with 84 rough sleepers having been assisted between the project opening and the end
of March 2013.
PROGRESS ON KEY OBJECTIVES FROM 2008-13 STRATEGY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Improve housing advice services – service/staffing review complete
Improve the range of housing options – range improved, though still limited
Address the main causes of homelessness – work ongoing
Improve partnership working, education, and influencing policy – ongoing.
Increase the number of successful homelessness prevention interventions –
complete and ongoing
KEY ACTIONS FOR 2013-18 STRATEGY
1. Continue to achieve 500 homeless preventions per annum
2. Continue to develop current partnership working – including Harrogate
Homelessness Project (No Second Night Out), Stonham (Pre-tenancy training),
Youth HUB (education outreach), County Homelessness Group (various projects).
3. Review future arrangements for single people – particularly developing a longer
term strategy for No Second Night Out and Severe Weather Emergency Protocols.
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PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
There is a complex array of reasons that lead to people finding
themselves homeless. Any prevention service needs to be flexible to
meet the needs of individuals, providing the best option for them. This
requires partnership working with agencies from the public, voluntary and
private sectors.
Five key objectives to improve homelessness prevention were identified at
the last review, which still remain appropriate:
1) Improving housing advice services
2) Improving the range of housing options for homeless households
3) Addressing the main causes of homelessness
4) Partnership working, education and influencing policy
5) Increasing the number of successful homelessness prevention
interventions.
1.1
Improving housing advice services
The council’s own housing advice service was restructured during the last
review period to improve co-ordination and efficiency. It may be subject to
further minor re-focussing in the near future as the Council is progressing
with plans to move from delivering specialist services from separate
locations to providing a number of generic Customer Access Points which
can offer assistance with any Council service.
The focus of the housing advice service is in the following areas:




Advocacy - intervention to prevent homelessness, negotiating with
landlords and lenders;
Advice - casework focussed on legal advice, solutions to problems and
help with housing options;
Enforcement - investigating allegations of harassment and unlawful
eviction;
Training - coaching and second tier advice for other service providers.
The Council will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the advice
services it provides and seek ways to deliver continual improvement.
As well as many local support agencies giving advice to their own clients,
there are also agencies that provide specialist independent housing
advice and advocacy in the District. These are:
Keyhouse
Within North Yorkshire, Keyhouse provides a specialist county wide
housing advice service and currently provides Court Desk advice services
in some areas, including Harrogate.
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Homelessness Review 2013
Harrogate and Ripon Citizen Advice Bureaux
PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
The two Citizens Advice Bureaux provide welfare benefits, debt and
housing advice and will help prepare appeals against adverse homeless
decisions.
1.2
Improving the range of housing options for homeless
households
There continue to be very limited housing options available to people who
are homeless or threatened with homelessness within the District. A key
focus of this strategy is to continue to maximise the range of options
available through:



Homelessness prevention fund
Accessing homes in the Private Rented sector
Offering Local housing allowance and Discretionary Housing
Payments
Homelessness Prevention Fund and Access to the Private Rented Sector
One of the most effective ways to prevent statutory homelessness is to
assist clients into the private rented sector, however high market rents and
the reluctance of landlords to take tenants on benefits – even more so due
to welfare reforms - makes it frustratingly difficult for people on low
incomes to access the private rented sector. However, we do know that
there are a few landlords out there willing to let to this client group.
One of the biggest hurdles for people on low incomes is to pay the rent
bond and rent in advance that is often demanded by landlords.
The Homelessness Prevention Fund, which commenced in 2008, has
been successful in offering 276 bonds and 365 payments for rent in
advance over the review period, broken down as follows:
Expenditure on bonds advanced 2008/9 to 2012/13
Year
2008/9 (Q3 and 4 only)
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Number of bonds
36
72
61
108
71
Amount advanced
£20,184.00
£37,493.12
£34,135.00
£62,410.00
£32,084.18
Rent in Advance Expenditure 2008/9 to 2012/13
Year
2008/9
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
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Number of Advances
45
73
61
118
68
Amount advanced
£25,585.00
£39,606.12
£32,394.51
£62,883.13
£41,423.48
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PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
The Council’s Private Sector Renewal team also work to maintain and
improve conditions in private sector properties. A balance of education
and enforcement of standards through a programme of proactive and
reactive work helps to achieve this. Licensing of HMOs under the 2004
Housing Act is now embedded, and as at 31st March 2013 54 HMOs were
licenced.
In addition, the Council works with the local Citizens Advice Bureau to
educate both tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities,
and is monitoring these cases.
Housing Benefits and Local Housing Allowance
Local Housing Allowance is a benefit paid to householders to assist with
the payment of rent. It replaced Housing Benefit for private sector housing
tenants from April 2008, whilst social housing tenants currently still receive
Housing Benefit. It is a means tested benefit administered by Harrogate
Borough Council on behalf of the Government. Subject to individual
circumstances claimants may receive up to 100% assistance.
Local Housing Allowance rates are fixed annually across different
localities, with the Harrogate District being covered by four different LHA
localities.
Recent and forthcoming welfare benefit reforms have, and will increasingly
impact on the housing payments made to households on other benefits or
low incomes. Further details can be found under Priority 6 – Dealing with
the impact of welfare reforms.
When analysing the most successful homelessness preventions, one third
of all positive homelessness preventions (986 out of 2959) were achieved
by resolving Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance problems. This
clearly then remains a key area of work for housing advice staff.
Discretionary Housing Payments
(
Financial
S
o Year
u
r
c
e
:
2008/09
2009/10
H
B2010/11
C
2011/12
R
e2012/13
v
Overall
cash limit
£
106,977
103,795
98,023
143,815
257,853
Council
contribution
£
64,186
62,277
58,814
86,289
154,712
Government
contribution
£
42,791
41,518
39,209
57,526
103,141
Total
spent
£
38,700.00
49,977.00
39,240.00
44,890.23
54,277.19
Number
of awards
105
104
101
110
117
enues and (Source: HBC Revenue and Benefits Team)
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) help people in financial difficulty
where their housing-related benefit or Council Tax Reduction do not fully
cover the cost of their full rent or Council Tax. It is administered by
Harrogate Borough Council.
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Homelessness Review 2013
PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
The funding available for DHPs is limited. This means that awards are
usually only made for short periods and are only given in cases of extreme
financial hardship.
Awards will usually only be made if there is evidence to show that:
The applicant is suffering severe financial hardship and finding it
difficult to meet “essential” living expenses such as rent, Council Tax,
food and utility bills and ;

The applicant or their family have exceptional circumstances, for
example, a severe illness or disability that prevents them from moving
to cheaper accommodation; they are fleeing violence at home; or the
family home is at risk because of severe levels of debt.
Each case is looked at individually.
The demand for DHPs is increasing year on year, more so with the
introduction of welfare benefit reforms. Eligibility criteria were reviewed in
March 2013.
The overall cash limit for 2013/14 has been significantly raised to
£447,556 (£179,021 Council contribution and £268,535 Government
contribution. The number of DHP claims received in April 2013 increased
significantly compared to the previous year; 59 up from 15. The number of
new DHP claims has reduced in May 2013 to 48 (still significantly higher
than 15 in May 2012). Awards have been made in 84 of the 117 claims
made during the first two months of 2013/14. More details about the type
of claims can be found under Priority 6 – Dealing with the impact of
welfare reforms.
Other help to allow people wanting to stay in their homes
The Council offers Disabled Facilities Grants to provide property
adaptations to eligible households with a disabled family member and has
a small Emergency Repair Fund which makes interest free loans to
vulnerable private tenants and homeowners to help them continue to live
safely and independently in their own homes.
The Council administers both schemes in partnership with the Harrogate
District Home Improvement Agency, which can also offer advice to private
tenants and homeowners on general property repairs and maintenance
and maximising benefit income, as well as offering a handyperson service
to carry out small repair jobs and minor adaptations, such as the fitting of
grab rails.
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Homelessness Review 2013
1.3
PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
Addressing the Main Causes of Homelessness
The main causes of statutory homelessness in the District over the last
five year review period are:
o Parents or other family members/friends no longer willing to
accommodate
o Termination of Assured Shorthold tenancy
o Relationship breakdown with partner, violent or non-violent
o Mortgage repossessions
There are a number of other wider social issues that increase the risk of a
person or household becoming homeless. These include debt, low
incomes, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing. These
issues are dealt with under the headings of support and affordable
housing, later on in the report.
Parents, other family members or friends no longer willing to
accommodate
93 instances of statutory homelessness between 2008/9 and 2012/13
were because parents were no longer willing or able to accommodate,
plus a further 37 cases where other family members or friends were no
longer willing or able to accommodate.
There were, however, 27 cases where mediation by mediators prevented
homelessness, 17 cases involving conciliation and 21 cases where
alternative accommodation was arranged with friends/relatives.
The Council’s ARCH mediation service ran a specific HowzTalk service to
assist with family mediation for young people but unfortunately funding for
this service is no longer available. Family mediation for young people and
their parents is now provided via the Youth Homelessness Hub.
Termination of Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Termination of assured shorthold tenancies continues to be the second
largest cause of homelessness amongst those for whom a full rehousing
duty is accepted, with 68 cases in the review period.
Private sector rent arrears were the reason for a further 14 cases of the
loss of private tenancies, though some of the tenancies brought to an end
at the end of the shorthold period are likely to have not been renewed
because of rent arrears.
The quality of housing advice, information available to tenants regarding
their security of tenure and other housing options available has improved
significantly over review period. This information and advice is available
from the Council’s Housing Needs team as well as a large network of
other local housing support providers. Both the support providers and the
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PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
Housing Needs team have also developed good links with private
landlords, which helps to minimise the number of evictions and improves
access for homeless households into the private rented sector.
This is demonstrated by the volume of positive homelessness preventions
in the private sector. A high proportion of the 986 preventions by resolving
Housing Benefit problems will have been for private sector tenancies, as
will a high proportion of the 680 cases where other assistance was given
to remain in rented accommodation.. 56 homelessness cases were
resolved by negotiation/legal advocacy or other assistance to remain in
the private rented sector.
Demonstrating the positive relationship with local landlords, a further 517
instances of homelessness were prevented by securing private sector
accommodation for the household, 360 using one of the Council’s
incentive schemes and 157 without.
Relationship breakdown – violent and non-violent
Relationship breakdown with partner was the primary cause of 96 cases of
homelessness during the five year review period; 64 involving a violent
breakdown of the relationship and 32 a non-violent breakdown. There
were also a further 14 cases of violent breakdown of relationship with
other associated persons.
Numbers of relationship breakdowns leading to homelessness have
decreased, though, over the five year period, particularly in the case of
violent breakdowns of relationship with partner:
MAIN REASON FOR
HOMELESSNESS
Violent relationship
breakdown with partner
Non-violent breakdown of
relationship with partner
Violent breakdown of
relationship with other
associated persons
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
TOTAL
22
15
12
9
6
64
11
4
6
5
6
32
9
0
2
0
3
14
(Source: P1E returns)
The Harrogate Domestic Abuse Forum is the principal vehicle for multiagency domestic abuse work in the district. This Forum brings together a
number of statutory and voluntary organisations to address the issue of
domestic abuse and to exchange information. The Harrogate Domestic
Abuse Action Plan is a multi-agency plan that has been developed as part
of the overall North Yorkshire Domestic Abuse Strategy. It is via the
Forum that much of the work of the strategy is progressed.
The Council has also adopted a Housing Domestic Abuse Policy, which is
aimed at housing officers and sets out the housing policy for people in
need of housing services as a result of domestic violence.
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PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
It is recognised that housing policies and procedures can contribute to
crime reduction and prevention. A Domestic Abuse Coordinator for
Harrogate and Craven is responsible for coordinating the work being done
to reduce the incidences of domestic abuse and to reduce the impact on
families, whilst a domestic abuse “Champion” has also been appointed
within the Council to ensure that issues relating to domestic abuse are
given appropriate priority and who can provide general information about
and signposting to domestic abuse services.
The two specialist services below are also available in the District.

Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS)
IDAS is a charity that provides comprehensive support services to all
those experiencing or affected by domestic abuse. It works throughout
York, Harrogate and District, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Craven and
has links with other specialist domestic abuse services throughout North
Yorkshire.
IDAS provides an 8-unit women’s refuge and some supported move-on
accommodation in Harrogate town as well as providing a floating support
(outreach) service for women and children who are currently experiencing
abuse at home, or who are suffering the effects of previous abuse.
The table below shows the number of referrals to IDAS:
Referrals
2009/10
99*
2010/11
65*
2011/12
8
2012/13
11
*Reporting criteria changed in 2011/12, hence reduction in reported figures.

Making Safe
Supporting People currently provides funding for a Making Safe scheme
which addresses the needs of both victims and perpetrators of domestic
abuse across the Harrogate District. IDAS provide the floating support for
the victims of domestic abuse, whilst another housing support provider,
Foundation, provide housing support for the perpetrator. Referral numbers
are shown in the table below.
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
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Referrals
36
24
18
32
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Homelessness Review 2013

PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
Mortgage Repossessions
The number of households homeless through mortgage repossessions
remains relatively low – 18 cases between 2008/9 and 2012/13 – but there
are still fears that once the value of the property market begins to rise
again in the District, a number of lenders may choose to foreclose.
In that same time period there were 116 cases of successful
homelessness prevention intervention actions that prevented
homelessness due to mortgage repossession.
Much work has been done both nationally and locally on preventing
mortgage repossessions over the last five years, not least because of the
effects of the national economic downturn.
National guidance and standards for mortgage lenders have been
introduced, including Conduct of Business rules and a requirement to
notify local authorities of impending possessions through the nationally
agreed Mortgage Repossession Pre-Action Protocol.
As well as general debt management advice being available through a
number of local agencies, there is a Court Desk service currently provided
by Keyhouse at the Harrogate Possessions Court to give last minute legal
advice to households who are facing hearings in the Possessions Court
but have not previously sought advice.
There are two mortgage rescue products currently available locally– the
Yorkshire and Humber “Breathing Space” scheme, which gives low cost
loans to tide households over short term drops in income, and the national
mortgage rescue scheme which allows either equity loans or for a
Registered Provider to purchase the property and rent it back to the
occupant. However, due to qualifying criteria, including a cap on property
values, local take has been low, and the national scheme is due to close
to new applicants from 31st March 2014.
Under the Breathing Space scheme, which started in September 2009,
there have been 14 referrals leading to four successful loans and four
alternative arrangements being made, with another loan going through at
the time of writing this review document.
Breathing Space
Loans
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Referrals
0
4
5
5
Loans
1
1
2
Alternatives
1
2
1
Loan cost
£15,000
£4,485
£14,473
There were no completions on the Government’s Mortgage Rescue
scheme during the review period, although there is one nearing
completion at the time of writing the review document.
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Homelessness Review 2013

PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
Debt advice and promoting Financial Inclusion
There are two independent Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABx) in the District
– Harrogate and Ripon - with outreach work carried out in other parts of
the District. Both Bureaux provide free general housing advice to any
person in the District who approaches them and the CABs also have
specialist benefit and debt workers. The benefit workers help clients to
maximise their incomes and assist with benefit appeals and problems with
overpayments of benefits. The debt workers can help with budgeting and
setting up of debt arrangements or strategies which enable clients to live
within their means.
1.4
Partnership working, education and influencing policy
Partnership working
Whilst the statutory duty to prevent homelessness in the district lies with
Harrogate Borough Council, it is unable to meet this challenge in isolation.
Strong partnership working between all statutory providers, Registered
Providers and the voluntary sector forms an essential element of this
approach. This exists both within and wider than the Harrogate District.

County-wide approaches
Through joint working via the County Homelessness Group, the North
Yorkshire sub-region has secured £397,000 in shared funding over the
past five years to improve practice and develop common and shared
service options to address rough sleeping and single homelessness within
the county. This is in addition to the individual Homelessness Grants to
individual local authorities and awards for specific projects, such as
Harrogate’s No Second Night Out project.
The sub-region has also worked together to establish a series of
Homelessness Hubs for young people – more details can be found in
Priority 4 – Youth Homelessness.

Joint Protocols
The County Homelessness Group have developed Joint Working
Protocols to improve the way agencies work to address homelessness
issues for particular client groups, including:
o Children, Young People and Families who are homeless or who are at
risk of becoming homeless
o Care Leavers
o Homeless 16/17 year olds
o Families with children who are intentionally homeless or ineligible for
assistance under homeless legislation
o Adults with disabilities who are homeless or threatened with
homelessness
o Ex-offenders
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Homelessness Review 2013

PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
Serious Case Review
In January 2013, the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Board
published a Serious Case Review into the death of a homeless man in his
mid-40s who died in a bed and breakfast establishment in the Harrogate
District in January 2012 as a result of an accidental intoxication by
morphine.
This gentleman was an itinerant rough sleeper who approached the
Council for accommodation, presenting as homeless. A decision was
made that the Council did not have a duty to provide him with temporary
accommodation under homelessness legislation, and he was
subsequently helped to find private sector bed and breakfast
accommodation, where he died shortly afterwards.
The finding of the Coroner was that his death was as a result of an
accidental overdose of morphine-based painkillers and not directly related
to the accommodation. However, the serious case review did identify
some important lessons with regard to both the Council’s internal
procedures and arrangements for working with other agencies, including
adult services, health and the voluntary sector. The Council immediately
carried out its own internal investigation and it has reviewed and revised
its procedures to improve the way cases like this are dealt with in the
future. The changes we have made include:
o A new contract for out of hours response to homeless enquiries
o Revised internal procedures for assessing the vulnerability of those
who present as homeless
o Refresher training for staff involved in dealing with homelessness and
specifically rough sleepers
o Revised arrangements for working with the voluntary sector, health
and adult services, which had been tested to ensure they work
effectively.
The Serious Case Review also made a number of recommendations with
county-wide implications for all local authorities, NYCC Adult Social Care,
Health Services and the Voluntary Sector, which are being co-ordinated at
a County level.
The Council is fully committed to meeting its responsibilities under
homelessness and safeguarding legislation, and it will continue to work
with the Adult Safeguarding Board and other partners to that end.
Education
The Council has been working on a schools outreach programme to
educate young people about housing options and homelessness. More
details can be found in Priority 5 – Youth Homelessness.
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PREVENTING
HOMELESSNESS
In 2008, a short film “Behind No Doors” was created by the Inspired Youth
arts project about youth homelessness. It was written and presented by
young people who had experienced homelessness and won several
awards for the participants. This film is still being shown as part of
education outreach work and as part of the local schools’ annual “Living
Dangerously” awareness project. The film is still available to view on
YouTube.
Influencing Policy

Forums
A number of multi-agency forums are in place that help foster strong
partnership working at a local level and deal with key policy issues and
working practices as they arise.
Harrogate & District Housing Forum
Local Government North Yorkshire and
York Housing Board (North Yorkshire
Strategic Housing Board)
Harrogate & District Homelessness
Steering Group
North Yorkshire Housing Forum
Harrogate & District Domestic Abuse
Forum
County Homelessness Group
County Private Sector Housing Group
North Yorkshire Rural Housing
Enablers Network
North Yorkshire Chief Housing Officers
Group
At the highest county-wide level, the Local Government North Yorkshire
and York Housing Board (“the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Board”)
oversees and is responsible for the North Yorkshire Housing and
Homelessness Strategy.
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Homelessness Review 2013
PRIORITY 2 - REDUCING THE USE OF AND IMPROVING THE STANDARD
OF TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
REVIEW FINDINGS
As at 31 March 2013, there were 65 households in temporary accommodation.
This is below the level at the end of the last review, but above its low point in
2010/11.
The Council is the main provider of temporary accommodation in the District,
related to its statutory homelessness obligations.
The Harrogate Homeless Project and the YMCA are the only direct access
hostels in the District.
Harrogate and District Women’s Aid provides temporary accommodation to
victims of domestic abuse.
Properties in Leeds are still being used to house people on occasion as there
is insufficient temporary accommodation within the District.
1.
2
3
4.
5.
6.
7.
PROGRESS ON KEY OBJECTIVES FROM 2008-13 STRATEGY
Halve the number of households in temporary accommodation by 31
March 2010 – target met
End the use of B&B accommodation for 16/17 year olds by 31 March
2010 – target met
End the use of non-self contained accommodation for families by 31
March 2012 – target met
Reduce the length of stay for households in temporary accommodation
– target not achieved
Develop services for more vulnerable households – partially met
Develop programmes to encourage people in temporary accommodation
into learning, training and employment – partially met
Improve the physical condition of temporary accommodation and reduce
CO2 emissions – target met
KEY ACTIONS FOR 2013-18 STRATEGY
1. Monitor the number of households living in temporary accommodation and
their length of stay against targets set in the annual Housing Service Plan
2. Continue to look for ways to increase the availability of move-on
accommodation
3. Review the support arrangements for temporary accommodation provided
by the Council
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Homelessness Review 2013
TEMPORARY
ACCOMMODATION
In order to meet legal obligations under the Homelessness Act 2002, all
local authorities are required to provide temporary accommodation for
households they have reason to believe are homeless and in priority need
pending a full homelessness investigation, and to accommodate those
households for whom a full statutory housing duty has been accepted but
for whom an offer of settled accommodation has not yet become available.
In exceptional circumstances households may be deemed ‘homeless at
home’, which means that the Council has accepted that it has a duty to
provide them with temporary accommodation or an offer of settled
accommodation, but none of the accommodation available is suitable for
their specific needs.
Current Supply of Temporary Accommodation
The following forms of temporary accommodation are currently used by
the Council when required:

Self-contained and some non self-contained units in Council-owned
hostels
 Self-contained temporary accommodation units provided for the
Council by Registered Providers
 Private rented accommodation sourced through a private sector
provider in Leeds (both shared and self-contained)
 Accommodation provided for victims of domestic violence through
IDAS
 Emergency Bed and Breakfast accommodation
Numbers of Households in Temporary Accommodation
The numbers of households in temporary accommodation have fluctuated
during the review period. Initially there were significant reductions to
reach an all-time low of 42 households in 2010/11, but increasing
homelessness pressures and a significant decrease in the amount of
move-on accommodation has caused the numbers to creep up again,
reaching 65 at 31st March 2013.
The cost to the Council of providing temporary accommodation over the
last review period (in addition to its own hostel provision, which is provided
through the Housing Revenue Account) was as follows:
Private Sector
Leasing
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Five Year Total
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22/03/2016
£35,959
£9,630
£8,868
£16,352
£21,661
£92,470
Bed and
Breakfast
Annual net
expenditure
£14,041
£1,262
0
£1,362
£6,408
£23,073
£50,000
£10,892
£8,868
£17,714
£28,069
£115,543
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Homelessness Review 2013
TEMPORARY
ACCOMMODATION
Households in temporary accommodation at the end of each
quarter
120
100
80
60
Number of
households
40
Q4 - 12/13
Q3 - 12/13
Q2 - 12/13
Q1 - 12/13
Q4 - 11/12
Q3 - 11/12
Q2 - 11/12
Q1 - 11/12
Q4 - 10/11
Q3 - 10/11
Q2 - 10/11
Q1 - 10/11
Q4 - 09/10
Q3 - 09/10
Q2 - 09/10
Q1 - 09/10
Q4 - 08/09
Q3 - 08/09
Q2 - 08/09
0
Q1 - 08/09
20
(Source: Corporate Covalent Monitoring System)
Length of stay in Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
Local Indicator L001 measures length of stay in Bed and Breakfast
Accommodation. It is important to note that the figure is recorded when
the household is rehoused or otherwise leaves temporary accommodation
provided for them by the Council.
No Bed and Breakfast accommodation was used between 2008/9 and
2012 and is now only used occasionally in emergency. It is only used as a
last resort when no other forms of temporary accommodation are
available. The indicator measures the average length of stay in Bed and
Breakfast accommodation of households that include dependent children
or a pregnant woman, and who are unintentionally homeless and in
priority need.
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Homelessness Review 2013
L001 - Length of stay in Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
TEMPORARY
ACCOMMODATION
25
20
15
10
Length of stay
(weeks)
12/13 - Q4
12/13 - Q3
12/13 - Q2
12/13 - Q1
11/12 - Q4
11/12 - Q3
11/12 - Q2
11/12 - Q1
10/11 - Q4
10/11 - Q3
10/11 - Q2
10/11 - Q1
09/10 - Q4
09/10- Q2
09/10 - Q3
08/09- Q4
09/10 - Q1
08/09 - Q3
08/09 - Q2
0
08/09 - Q1
5
Length of stay in hostel accommodation
The local target L002 measures the average length of time spent by
families with children or including pregnant women who are found to be
unintentionally homeless and in priority need in hostel accommodation. As
with the measure of length of time in Bed and Breakfast accommodation,
the figure is recorded when the household is rehoused or otherwise leaves
temporary accommodation provided for them by the Council.
L002 Length of stay in hostel
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
Length of stay
(weeks)
Q4 - 12/13
Q3 - 12/13
Q2 - 12/13
Q1 - 12/13
Q4 - 11/12
Q3 - 11/12
Q2 - 11/12
Q1 - 11/12
Q4 - 10/11
Q3 - 10/11
Q2 - 10/11
Q1 - 10/11
Q4 - 09/10
Q3 - 09/10
Q2 - 09/10
Q1 - 09/10
Q4 - 08/09
Q3 - 08/09
Q2 - 08/09
0
Q1 - 08/09
5
Non-Self Contained Hostel Units
There are currently 10 units of non-self contained accommodation in
hostels provided by the Council. These are used for single people and
childless couples. The Council also occasionally offers temporary
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TEMPORARY
ACCOMMODATION
accommodation to single people in shared housing provided by a private
provider when there is no more suitable accommodation available.
Support for Households in Temporary Accommodation
Due to the nature of the client group in temporary accommodation, many
need help with issues relating to money/debt, health, drug and alcohol
abuse, and tenancy sustainment. The Move-On Officer completes a
needs assessment within 10 days of all households going into temporary
accommodation. From this, a support plan is drawn up and appropriate
support put into place. The working hours of the Move-On officer have
been increased during the period of the last review.
The Council’s hostels have non-resident wardens who are available to
help with general day-to-day issues, and out-of-hours cover is in place to
respond to emergencies and out-of-hours admissions. In addition, a
Temporary Accommodation Support Worker is able to provide help to
households.
A Childcare Support Worker is based at one of the hostels but does
encourage parents from other hostels to join in with the activities that are
provided. These activities include play sessions, teddy bear picnic, time
out sessions for parents, and sign-posting to other services.
External floating support (support linked to a person rather than a
property) is also provided for households who are statutorily homeless and
placed in temporary accommodation arranged by the Council. This
initially helps the households adjust to their temporary accommodation,
and later helps to ease their passage into settled homes. Referrals are
also made to specialist service providers to help clients with specific nonhousing problems.
A Supporting People validation inspection was carried out in March 2008.
Whilst the outcome was positive overall, the Council has responded to the
three key issues that were highlighted as a result of the inspection.
Places of Change Agenda
The Government’s Places of Change programme sought to ensure that
hostels and other facilities for homeless people provide the best
opportunities for their clients to move forward into work and a settled
home.
The Harrogate Homelessness Project was successful in obtaining funding
via the Places of Change programme to fully refurbish its hostel provision
and to establish a separate day services unit, available to current and
former clients, which has been highly successful.
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PRIORITY 3: REDUCING THE INCIDENCE OF YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
REVIEW FINDINGS
Between April 2009 and March 2013, 43% of all homelessness acceptances were
for people in the 16-24 year old age group.
Of these around 8% (34) were accepted as being in priority need for the main
reason that they were 16/17 year olds, which is a significant reduction from 23% of
applicants having the main reason for priority need as being 16/17 year olds at the
last review.
Cross-boundary and cross-agency strategic working has improved significantly
since the last homelessness review. Following a county-wide multi-agency review
of youth homelessness, the Young People’s Strategic Pathway system (“the Hub”)
was implemented in Harrogate in late 2011/12. Between the service opening and
the end of March 2013, there were 149 16/17 year olds recorded as having
approached or been referred to the Harrogate Hub. Positive action resulted in 83
homelessness preventions in these cases.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
PROGRESS ON KEY OBJECTIVES FROM 2008-13 STRATEGY
Develop a multi-agency youth homelessness strategy by April 2010 –
complete – incorporated into preparatory work for the Hub.
To have no homeless 16/17 year olds in Bed and Breakfast by the 31
March 2010 - complete
To reduce the number of young people (16/17 year olds) accepted as
homeless by 10% on an annual basis.- Achieved and continuing to reduce
through the Hub.
Increase the range of housing options and services available to tackle
youth homelessness – achieved through the Hub.
To develop a range of accommodation options for supported housing for
chaotic young people (16/24) by 2013 – achieved through the Hub.
Increase the number of move-on units available to young people – not
achieved; still very limited supply of general needs move-on
accommodation for any client group.
KEY ACTIONS FOR 2013-18 STRATEGY
1.
Support continuing development of the Hub, including implementing
action for the service review which took place in 2012/13
2.
Develop additional accommodation for Hub clients with higher level
support needs
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YOUTH
HOMELESSNESS
Homelessness among young people (16-24 year olds) is an issue that
continues to be of concern in Harrogate District. A lack of affordable
housing, an economy based mainly on low paid jobs in the hotel and
conference industries, and the rural nature of the District make it very
difficult for young people to access housing or to sustain tenancies. The
causes of youth homelessness are complex and require strong multiagency working to tackle the root causes. Early intervention is critical to
breaking the cycle of homelessness, social exclusion and repeat
homelessness.
It is recognised that preventing homelessness can have a huge influence
on a young person’s life chances – good housing and support will mean
that they are more likely to enter training, get a job, have a good standard
of health, and be able to take advantage of any opportunities they are
offered.
North Yorkshire County Council is responsible for providing social care
services for children and young people in the County.
Youth Homelessness in Harrogate District
Over the five year review period 2008-13, 43% of all homelessness
acceptances were for people in the 16-24 year old age group – a similar
percentage to the previous five year review period. Of these, only around
7% were accepted as homeless for the primary reason that they were
16/17 year olds, compared to 23% in 2007/8.
This is a continuing significant decline in the number of 16/17 year olds
being accepted as homeless by the Council due to the increased multiagency prevention work and shared working arrangements
67% of all homeless acceptances were households which included
dependent children or a pregnant woman.
The Hub – a revised model for young persons’ homelessness
services
Following a county wide multi-agency review of young people’s
homelessness services, a key change that was implemented in late 2012
was a revised multi-agency approach via the “Hub”. Young People’s
Housing Solutions @ the Hub.provides multi-agency providing a advice
and homelessness services and a referral pathway for young people who
are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
The Hub consists of the Local Authority Harrogate Housing Options Team,
Pathway Co-ordinator, Time Out/ Mediation Worker (via Foundation
housing) and a Homelessness Prevention Worker from Children and
Young People’s Service.
The Hub’s main aim is to support young people to stay at home or in other
suitable living arrangements with family or friends, although the project
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YOUTH
HOMELESSNESS
understands that this is not always appropriate or possible. The Hub also
offers accommodation and support services under a new ‘Pathway’
approach.
All young people aged 16-25 who are homeless, or at risk of
homelessness, can be referred to the Hub. The Hub can also provide
more general advice to any young person on issues such as tenancies,
deposits and housing benefits.
Additional support may be given to young people aged 16-17. If it is not
possible to prevent a young person aged 16-17 from becoming homeless
or it is felt that they require additional help, a social worker will assess the
young person’s needs. For some vulnerable young people it may be
appropriate to offer support under Section 20 of the Children’s Act
(bringing a young person into care).
Separate additional support from Children’s Social Care or Health and
Adult Services may also be given to young people aged 16-25 with
additional vulnerabilities such as:
o
o
o
o
o
Learning difficulties / disabilities
Substance misuse / mental health considerations
Care Leavers
Young Offenders
Pregnant young people or young parents, their partners and
families
 The Accommodation Pathway
The Hub offers universal support and advice on housing-related issues to
all young people aged 16-25.
For those at risk of homelessness, the service offers advice and mediation
to help young people remain in or return to their home or make alternative
suitable living arrangements with friends or family.
Where this isn’t successful, young people who require more intensive
support will enter into the ‘Pathway’:
Pathway 1 continues to offer support to try to help young people to return
home or to an alternative suitable living arrangement. Young people may
be provided with emergency accommodation with a host family (for up to
two weeks) or with short-term accommodation (for up to six weeks) while
this is happening.
Pathway 2 offers longer-term support where young people have been
unable to return home. Support required will be determined following
assessment of need and may include generic floating support without
accommodation, or more intensive support with accommodation for up to
two years
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Homelessness Review 2013

YOUTH
HOMELESSNESS
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Future development of Hub services
As well as reviewing how successfully the Hub has operated in the first
year, future developments include a foyer project in Harrogate (for clients
referred through the Pathway) and educational work in schools.
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Homelessness Review 2013
PRIORITY 4 – IMPROVING ACCESS TO SUPPORT SERVICES TO
PREVENT HOMELESSNESS
Review Findings
North Yorkshire Supporting People is the main funder of housing related support for
vulnerable people.
Over ten years its budget has been reduced by over 18% from £16,865m when it
was established in 2003/4 to £13,750m in 2012/13.
on-going service reviews, reconfiguration of services and procurement efficiencies
have nevertheless increased the number of “units” of support available within the
allocated budget; in 2007/8 Harrogate District had a total of 2,846 units of support,
whereas in 2012/13 it had 4,217 plus a share of 227 units available under county
wide services.
The support service for Homeless Families with Support Needs is due to be reviewed
by Supporting People in late 2013/14 or early 2014/15 (review date to be confirmed).
PROGRESS ON KEY OBJECTIVES FROM 2008-13 STRATEGY
1. Increase the number of vulnerable people achieving independent living
(planned moves) – achieved and target exceeded.
2. Develop services to increase access to learning, training and education
opportunities for homeless and at risk of homelessness – not achieved
3. Continue to develop Harrogate Youthbuild, making provisions to extend age
eligibility to include over 25’s – scheme initially extended, but then closed due
to lack of continuing funding for new properties.
4. Review how benefit and debt advice services can be extended to reach more
vulnerable households – service was being extended but has currently had a
significant funding cut.
5. Diversity training for all council housing staff - completed
KEY ACTIONS FOR 2013-18 STRATEGY
1. Develop specific accommodation for service users with substance misuse
issues and those with learning difficulties
2. Participate in the local Developing Stronger Families (Troubled Families)
initiative
3. Improve signposting by revising and updating the local homelessness directory
and publishing it on the Council’s website.
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SUPPORT
SERVICES
A range of support services are needed to help people either avoid or to
escape homelessness. Often people who are faced with homelessness,
or housing problems, are vulnerable because of a wide range of issues
and providing housing is just one part of the solution. It is therefore vital
that support services are available for people at all stages in the process
towards independent living.
THE SUPPORTING PEOPLE PROGRAMME
Supporting People began as a government programme in 2003 and pays
for housing-related support services to help people live independently in
the community. Supporting People funding is now part of overall funding to
North Yorkshire County Council and is no longer “ring fenced”, however
due to the success of the programme in North Yorkshire the partnership,
which includes the county council, district councils, probation and health,
have continued to oversee the Supporting People funding. The
programme is administered by North Yorkshire County Council on behalf
of the wider partnership.

Who does Supporting People help?
The housing-related support services that the Supporting People
programme funds help a wide variety of people who need assistance to
either develop their skills and confidence so they can live independently
without support or to allow them to continue living independently with the
provision of on-going support. Such services can be delivered either as a
floating support service or as part of a package that includes the provision
of accommodation and maybe delivered for a short period of time or more
long term.

Supporting People and homelessness
Supporting People forms a key element of the North Yorkshire
homelessness strategy and is critical to the provision of services for the
homeless across the county.
The North Yorkshire Supporting People Strategy for Homeless and
Vulnerable People was incorporated into the North Yorkshire
Homelessness Strategy 2008-2012, which was subsequently incorporated
into the North Yorkshire Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2012. The
homelessness related Supporting People objectives included were:
o To ensure access to Supporting People services for all groups
of vulnerable people
o To ensure a range of quality short-term accommodation
services continue to be available in the County
o To ensure provision of appropriate floating support in any tenure
to prevent homelessness, sustain independence in existing
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Homelessness Review 2013
housing and following resettlement into permanent
accommodation
SUPPORT
SERVICES
o To build on existing strategic and preventative work with
housing and other authorities for vulnerable people

Supporting People Funding
The Supporting People budget has been subject to year on year
reductions. When it was established in 2003/4 the total Supporting People
pot for North Yorkshire was £16,865m. In 2012/13 it was £13,750m.
Given the national economic climate and the prevailing Government public
spending cuts, it is likely that the Supporting People Budget will at best
remain static and more likely continue to reduce over the next five year
review period.
The County-wide breakdown of spend in 2012/13 was as follows:
Supporting People North Yorkshire
2012-13 spend
£
Domestic Abuse
766,507
Home Improvement Agencies
498,284
Homeless Prevention
1,849,878
Learning Difficulties
4,641,469
Mental Health
740,138
Offenders
484,400
Older Persons
2,970,577
Travellers
104,560
Young People
1,694,252
TOTAL
13,750,065
%
5.57%
3.62%
13.45%
33.76%
5.38%
3.52%
21.60%
0.76%
12.32%
Supporting People Services in Harrogate District
Currently, there are a total of 4,217 ‘units’ of support funded by Supporting
People in the Harrogate District, plus a share of 229 additional units that
are delivered through county wide services which include Harrogate
District.
A table showing the breakdown of support units is shown below, together
with a comparison to the number of “units” in 2007/08 :
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Homelessness Review 2013
2012/13
County wide
Services in
services
Harrogate
including
Harrogate
74
Client Group
Frail Elderly
Homeless Families with Support Needs
Offenders or People at risk of Offending
Older people with support needs
People with a Physical or Sensory Disability
People with Learning Disabilities
People with Mental Health Problems
Single Homeless with Support Needs
Traveller/Gypsy/Roma
People at Risk of Domestic Violence
Young People at Risk
Home Improvement Agencies
Generic
Teenage Parents
Totals
SUPPORT
SERVICES

49
2007/08
Comparative
provision in
Harrogate
74
91
27
1,546
38
53
39
68
137
1,491
26
36
38
134
20
26
43
2,300
72
4,217
229
8
83
704
108
7
2,846
Planned moves
A key indicator relating to homelessness is the number of service users
(i.e. people receiving a Supporting People Service) who have moved on
from supported accommodation in a planned way. In 2007/8 56.6% of
moves in the District from Supported Accommodation were planned. The
target set in the 2008/13 strategy was to increase planned moves from
56.6% to 70% by 31 March 2011 locally, whilst the county wide target was
to increase it to at least 73% of all moves. The current target (in the North
Yorkshire Housing and Homelessness Strategy is to Sustain a level of
80% of planned moves from homeless prevention and support services.
.
This target has been met and significantly exceeded. The first table below
shows planned moves from all Harrogate Supporting People funded
services, whilst the second table shows the number of planned moves
from specific homelessness related services.
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Homelessness Review 2013
SUPPORT
SERVICES
All Planned moves
Year
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
All Harrogate SP funded services
Planned
Total
%
moves
moves
56
92
60.9%
50
62
80.6%
76
86
88.4%
311
352
88.4%
415
478
86.8%
Planned moves relating to homelessness services
Harrogate
Harrogate
Homeless
Year
Homelessness
Prevention
services
service
2010/11
77.7%
n/a
2011/12
85.7%
95.0%
2012/13
81.8%
89.2%
All SP
funded
services
76.0%
87.0%
88.1%
90.3%
94.6%
Combined
77.7%
90.6%
85.0%
Further information on outcomes for short term services (for all SP funded
services) in 2012/13 shows that :
 86.9% of clients were successfully supported to maintain
accommodation and avoid eviction (2011/12 = 84.5%)

82.7% of clients were successfully supported to secure/obtain settled
accommodation (2011/12 = 80.8%)
The current target in the North Yorkshire Housing and Homelessness
Strategy is to sustain a level of 80% of planned moves from homeless
prevention and support services.
Types of support offered

Floating Support
The floating support provision, delivered by the Council and a number of
other local providers, assists homeless clients during their stay in
temporary accommodation and in their transition to settled
accommodation.

Day Services
A number of local agencies and churches provide a variety of day services
for homeless or previously homeless clients.
These range from a local church providing a breakfast club each morning,
to individual accommodation providers providing a range of support
services and learning/training opportunities for their clients, and to the
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Homelessness Review 2013
SUPPORT
SERVICES
delivery of a very comprehensive range of day services from the
Springboard Day Centre, which is run by Harrogate Homelessness
project. The day services can help clients improve their general life skills
to help them sustain future settled accommodation as well as providing or
signposting specific assistance with education/training and finding
employment.

Specialist support and advice services
There are a number of specialist local services for people with drug and
alcohol related problems, mental health problems and ex-offenders.
There are also local groups and agencies who can give more general
advice and assistance to older people and people of any age with a
disability.
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Homelessness Review 2013
PRIORITY 5 – INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
REVIEW FINDINGS
The North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2011 identified a net
annual affordable housing need in the Harrogate District of 507 dwellings per year to
2016 to meet current and newly arising need.
The Council has strong affordable housing planning policies in place, but house
building activity has been significantly depressed as a result of the national economic
recession. Only 881 new properties of all tenures were delivered in Harrogate
between April 2008 and March 2013. Of these, 279 (32%) were affordable homes.
Demand for all types of affordable housing remains high and exceeds supply, with
turnover on both Council and Registered Provider properties remaining low.
To make best use of stock, the Council is about to implement a flexible tenure policy,
where all properties of two bedrooms or more will be let to new tenants on five year
fixed term tenancies. This policy is also being adopted on some properties by local
Registered Providers. The Council is also about to embark on a re-designation
programme, aiming to reduce the number of properties which are currently agerestricted in order to free up more smaller properties for people wishing to down-size
and for younger people on the Housing List.
There has been improved strategic coordination with North Yorkshire County Council
on the provision of housing for households with social care needs, resulting in some
specialist provision being provided, but there is still scope for further coordination.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
PROGRESS ON KEY OBJECTIVES FROM 2008-13 STRATEGY
To produce 160 units of affordable housing each year – target reduced to 75 then 60
each year during the review period, but still only achieved 279
Monitor levels of nominations received by RSLs, the types of properties, including the
number of households excluded. Try to increase the number of homeless
households being housed by Council and RS - complete.
Using the Homeless Link MOPP (Move-On Protocol Plan) model, work with key
partners to address local factors preventing effective move-on – not achieved.
Develop the Under-Occupation Scheme in conjunction with Golden Triangle
Partnership – complete and successful but GTP funding now ceased
Continue to support and develop Harrogate Youthbuild – continued initially but now
ceased
Work with North Yorkshire County Council and PCT to develop a needs analysis of
different client groups which will be used when making decisions on what types of
houses to build – not completed; other work now ongoing with NYCC
Gypsies and Travellers – work with planning to ensure enough sites are made
available – Local Plan development still continuing
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Homelessness Review 2013
KEY ACTIONS FOR 2013-18 STRATEGY
1. Monitor the number of additional affordable housing completions against the target set in
the annual Housing Service Plan
2. Work with Planning to identify suitable sites to meet the remaining shortfall of pitches for
the local Gypsy, Traveller, Roma and Showperson community, as identified in the 2012
Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment
3. Continue to consider and implement ways to make best use of existing housing stock –
for example Council home re-designation, introduction of Fixed Term Tenancies,
Harrogate Borough Council housing allocations policy review
Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2011
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
In 2011 the North Yorkshire sub-region commissioned its first joint
Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA), which provided overarching data for North Yorkshire and York, plus detailed analysis at district
level. Key findings for the Harrogate District were:

between 2001 and 2009 Harrogate’s population grew by 3.5%;

a high proportion of households cannot afford to buy on the open
market, whilst a third of renters were paying over £650 a calendar
month in 2011;

there was a net annual affordable housing need of 507 dwellings per
year to 2016 to fully tackle the backlog of need and the newly arising
need over that period;

around 2,540 new properties of all tenures (averaging 362 per annum)
were delivered in Harrogate between 2004 and 2010. (279 additional
affordable homes were delivered between April 2008 and March
2013.);

the greatest affordable housing need was for 1 and 2 bedroom
dwellings (89%) rather than larger 3 and 4+ bedroom dwellings (11%).
The shortage of smaller dwellings was having a disproportionate effect
on Harrogate’s capability to address its backlog of housing need and
to meet the needs of new households in the future.
Current provision of affordable housing
The largest social housing landlord in the District is Harrogate Borough
Council, which had 3,874 properties as at 31st March 2013. There are 19
other main registered providers of social housing (housing associations)
that own around 2,700 other affordable (social rented) homes in the
District.
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Homelessness Review 2013
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
The Census 2011 data shows that there is a low proportion of social
rented housing in the District compared to other areas in the Yorkshire
and Humber, and England as a whole.
Harrogate
%
Tenure
Owner-occupied
Social rented
Private rented
Shared ownership
Rent Free
71.1
9.1
17.5
0.6
1.7
Yorkshire &
the Humber
%
64.1
18.1
15.9
0.4
1.5
England
%
63.3
17.7
16.8
0.8
1.3
Source: Census 2011
The number of affordable Council homes being lost through the Right to
Buy provisions has been at a low level during most of the review period,
though the changes in legislation to reinvigorate the Right to Buy have
produced an up-turn in 2012/13:
Applications and Sales under the Right to Buy
Applications
Sales
2008/09
10
3
2009/10
12
1
2010/11
11
5
2011/12
7
1
2012/13
28
10
(Source: internal Covalent monitoring report)
Although the Council has signed an agreement with the Department of
Communities and Local Government to retain the proceeds for sales of
above a certain level under the Right to Buy to re-invest in providing
replacement affordable housing, the threshold for this ability to retain the
receipts has not yet been reached.
New Affordable Housing
The Council, as the strategic housing authority, supports Registered
Provider (housing association) developments and in return receives an
agreed percentage of nomination rights to the new homes. This enables
the Council to access affordable homes to house those people on our
waiting list in most need.
The Council currently works with Craven District Council in a Development
Partnership with ten preferred development partners:
AFFORDABLE
Homelessness
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






Accent Group
Broadacres
Chevin (Together Housing Group)
Harrogate Families Housing Association (Harrogate only)
Home Housing Association
Jephson (Craven only)
Leeds Federated Housing Association
45
Homelessness Review 2013



Muir Group (Craven only)
Northern Counties
Yorkshire Housing
Due to the national economic recession, completions have significantly
reduced over the last few years, which obviously has a knock-on effect in
providing move-on settled accommodation for homeless households.
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
93
39
57
54
36
Number of affordable
homes delivered
(Source: NI155 results via Covalent)
The majority of new build affordable homes are for general needs
households, although a small proportion has been for clients with specific
needs, based on current demand and the suitability of the sites available.
Within the general needs housing provided, some schemes/units have
been specifically offered (with incentives) to existing tenants wishing to
down-size in order to free-up more family housing for homeless and
waiting list households.
On larger new developments (of which there have been few during the
review period) a number of properties are reserved for existing Council or
housing association tenants wishing to transfer, in order to create a
balanced community with a mixture of “existing” and new tenants. Most
rural developments require the applicants to have a local connection to
that area to qualify for the housing, with the choice between qualifying
applicants and all other new homes without any other lettings restrictions
being allocated based on housing need.
Planning Policies
The council is going through the process of formally developing and
adopting its new Local Plan (formerly known as the Local Development
Framework). The Core Strategy containing the main planning policies
was adopted in February 2009, and at the moment the Council is going
through the adoption process for Sites and Policies Development Plan
Document, which contains more detailed housing policies and site
allocations. It is anticipated that this will be submitted to the Secretary of
State in late summer 2013, with a Public Inquiry to follow, and formal
adoption anticipated in Autumn 2014.
Social Housing Lettings
The table below shows the total number of social housing lettings during
the year. It also includes the small number of new shared
ownership/discount ownership units brought forward by the Council’s
Registered Provider (Housing Association) partners.
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AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Council lettings
349
310
309
345
314
Housing
Association lettings
242
263
219
212
159
Housing
Association Shared
Ownership or
Discount
Ownership
21
6
3
11
8
TOTALS
612
579
531
568
481
(Source: Local monitoring information)
Looking just at the Council lettings, the homes went to the following type
of applicants:
2008/09
233
2009/10
204
2010/11
190
2011/12
214
2012/13
188
Homeless
50
29
30
36
35
Council transfers
66
77
81
84
81
Data not
available
Data not
available
8
11
10
349
310
309
345
314
General waiting list
Moved from a
Housing
Association
property
TOTALS
(Source: Local monitoring information)
Many council homes are age restricted; In 2012/13 the profile of the 314
relets was as follows:
Age designation of
property
General needs
45 or over
50 or over
60 or over
Sheltered (older people
with support needs)
TOTAL
Number of relets
during 2012/13
101
35
21
122
35
Percentage of relets
during 2012/13
32%
11%
7%
39%
11%
314
(Source: Local monitoring information)
Nearly 90% of homeless applicants for whom a full rehousing duty was
accepted were aged 44 and under. Comparing the data on the tables
above just for 2012/13, whilst it appears to be a relatively small number of
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AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
homeless households housed compared to the total lettings for the year,
35 households housed represent just over a third of the total general
needs lettings for the year.
Nomination Agreements
Harrogate Borough Council has nomination arrangements with all housing
associations (Registered Providers) operating in the Borough.
Nomination arrangements are where the Registered Provider (housing
association) notifies the Council of qualifying vacancies and the Council
identifies a shortlist of up to three applicants from its housing list, in
accordance with its allocation policy, to be housed in that property. This
allows the Council to use an agreed proportion of housing association
tenancies to provide affordable homes for those in most need.
The table below shows the percentage of nominations achieved over the
review period.
Percentage of
nominations
(excluding
re-sales)
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
78%
68.7%
77.5%
73.1%
75.3%
(Source: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA))
Nomination rates vary from 100%, mainly on new developments, through
75% or 50% of relets. The housing associations who belong to the
Harrogate and Craven Development Partnership generally offer the
Council a higher proportion of nominations than other housing
associations do. All nomination agreements are reviewed every three
years.
Council and housing association exclusion policies, developed in
response to the Government’s anti-social behaviour agenda, can and
sometimes do make it more difficult for vulnerable client groups to access
social housing. The council and housing associations need to continue to
work together to ensure fair access to housing.
Making the Best Use of Existing Affordable Housing Stock

Addressing Under-Occupation
There are approximately 300 council tenants of working age and around
700 elderly tenants who are in receipt of housing benefit and who underoccupy their council homes. Taking into account that around 67% of
HBC’s council tenants receive housing benefit, it is estimated that overall
the level of under occupation is likely to be in the region of 1,500 in the
council’s housing stock of 3,874 homes (as at 1st April 2013). Therefore
about 39% of the council’s stock is under occupied on the basis of the
housing benefit regulations.
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AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
It is recognised that certain tenants, and especially those faced with the
impact of welfare reforms, do not have the ability to be able to move
without practical assistance and support and may not have sufficient
money to meet the cost of moving. A new hardship fund was created in
April 2013 which can be used to help meet the cost of removals and
refitting of appliances. Housing staff will also give practical support to help
make necessary arrangements for a move.
The tenants who would be helped under this scheme will primarily be
working age tenants on welfare benefits who are under-occupying their
homes, but this policy could apply to older tenants if they meet the criteria.
During the review period there have also been some new developments of
social rented housing that were specifically marketed to council and
housing association tenants wanting to down-size. These developments,
totalling 34 dwellings, released 12 council general purpose properties. As
part of the schemes some floor coverings and window dressings were
included and tenants were give cash grants to help pay for new white
goods, as well as covering their moving costs. Unfortunately the funding
for this level of help is no longer available and is unlikely to be available
again in the foreseeable future.

Tenancy Policy – Fixed term tenancies
There is currently a severe shortage of affordable family housing in the
Harrogate District. The Council needs to make best use of its stock to
address local housing need, including meeting our legal obligation to
homeless households. We also need to respond to the needs of our
ageing population and address the lack of accommodation for people of
working age, who are critical to the local economy.
From 1st September 2013, following one year introductory tenancies, the
Council will offer five year fixed term tenancies for all non-sheltered homes
of two bedrooms or more. The intention is to give the Council greater
ability to match households with the best fit of homes to address issues
raised by changing circumstances and welfare benefit regulations.
At the end of the fixed term, the tenancies will be renewed for a further
period of five years unless:
a) the property would be under-occupied within the definitions given in
Housing Benefit legislation; or
b) the characteristics of the property no longer match the needs of the
household in any other significant way.
The Council will review each fixed term tenancy at least twelve months
before it is due to end and, if it is unlikely the tenancy will be renewed, the
Council will assist the tenant to move to a suitable property.
One bedroomed properties and sheltered properties (homes for older
people with support needs) will continue to be let on lifetime tenancies.
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
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
Re-designation of Council properties
The Council owned 7,205 properties in 1980. The stock has reduced
markedly since then, due primarily to the sale of homes under the Right to
Buy scheme, and as at 1 April 2013 the stock total was 3,874. The vast
majority of the homes sold have been general purpose housing. Yet
demographic changes and changes to the local private housing market
over the same period has meant that demand for elderly persons
accommodation has fallen whilst demand for “affordable” general purpose
accommodation has risen.
These factors have created a mismatch between the demand and supply
for general purpose council housing. On three occasions since 1992 the
Council has sought to address this imbalance by changing age restrictions
applied to parts of the housing stock (re-designation) to increase the
amount of general purpose housing available. But the number of
properties affected has not been large enough to help reduce the level of
demand from younger people with high housing need, largely because the
age restrictions on properties have only been changed when the majority
of tenants in the area has agreed to the change.
The impact of the welfare benefit reforms, particularly the removal of the
“spare room subsidy” has made it imperative that the Council looks at this
issue again.
At the time of writing this review, proposals are currently going through the
formal political process to try to lift or reduce the age restrictions on up to
900 council homes. Coupled with the tenancy policy (flexible tenancies) it
should then help the council to make better use of stock, although, as with
fixed term tenancies, the slow rate of property turnover means that, even
once the proposals are finalised and agreed, it will take a considerable
amount of time before there is any noticeable change in the number of
properties available for wider letting.

Empty Properties
There are currently approximately 750 properties on the Council Tax
register that are considered long-term empty properties – long-term empty
properties being those that have been empty for more than 6 months.
This figure fluctuates as more properties fall into this category over time
whilst others are re-occupied.
Returning empty properties to use is important to the Council, not only as
a means to addressing local housing need, but also because the number
of long term empty homes on the Council Tax register affects the amount
of New Homes Bonus that the Government pays to the Council. New
Homes Bonus is a payment from Government based on match funding six
years’ worth of Council tax for any new homes built (with enhanced
payments for affordable homes). When calculating New Homes Bonus, if
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AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
the number of long term empty properties on the Council Tax register has
increased, the equivalent amount for this is netted off the New Homes
Bonus payment, whereas if it has reduced, the equivalent amount is
added to the New Homes Bonus.
The Council has a dedicated (part time) Empty Property Officer who works
with owners of empty property to help them bring properties back into use.
The numbers of empty properties brought back into use with direct council
intervention are as follows:
Number of empty
properties returned
to use as a result of
direct council
intervention
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
31
27
30
20
21
(Source: Performance Indicator L004, Covalent internal monitoring system)
Prior to April 2011, the Council ran a successful programme of Empty
Property Grants which it could use to give practical assistance to owners
wanting to return property to use, on condition that it was let for a specified
minimum period as affordable housing. However, since national
Government funding ceased for Private Sector Renewal activity in April
2011, there is no funding available to continue the scheme, so the council
must rely on giving advice, “hand-holding” owners through actions or, as a
last resort, taking enforcement action to bring problematic empty
properties back into use.
Since April 2011, the council’s target is to bring back 20 properties to use
each year as a result of direct council intervention.
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PRIORITY 6 – SUPPORTING DELIVERY OF THE CORPORATE FINANCIAL
INCLUSION STRATEGY
NB This is a new priority for the 2013-2018 Strategy
RESPONSES TO DATE
1. Development of a Harrogate Borough Council Financial Inclusion Strategy.
2. Extensive consultation/advisory work for affected tenants by Housing Benefits
team in advance of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction changes.
3. Extensive collaborative working between Housing Benefits and HBC Housing
Staff and Registered
Provider
who in turn have then been able to work
Include Council
Taxstaff,
Benefit/
with affected tenants as appropriate
4. HBC Neighbourhood Services review, aimed among other things to utilise staff
capacity in a different way to be able to give more support to Council tenants
who are struggling with the impact of welfare reforms; a number of RPs have
also carried out staffing reviews to produce the same outcomes.
5. Creation of a new HBC under-occupation fund to assist tenants who wish to
down-size (coupled with extra practical support arising from staffing review).
6. Re-designation exercise for current age-restricted Council properties approved
which will seek, following consultation, to remove or reduce some of the age
limits on current Council stock. This is intended to make more properties
available to a wider range of households on the Housing List, including making
more smaller properties available for younger tenants who need or wish to
downsize, which should in turn free up more larger units of family
accommodation for homeless households and other households on the
Housing List and Council Transfer List.
KEY ACTIONS FOR 2013-18 STRATEGY
1. Contribute to the delivery of relevant actions within the corporate Financial
Inclusion Strategy, including:
i. Working corporately and with partners to improve access to appropriate
banking, savings, affordable credit and other financial services.
ii. Improving/providing coordinated advice and support for residents that
experience financial hardship.
iii. Improving financial skills and knowledge in the Harrogate District.
iv. Coordinate and developing Council and partner responses to implementing
welfare reforms, including the introduction of Universal Credit.
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FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
The Government has introduced a raft of welfare benefit reforms, some of
which have been implemented and some of which will be implemented
during the course of this strategy. The main changes which are most
likely to affect homeless/previously homeless clients include:






Single room rent for under 35s
Total benefit cap
Social size criteria
Universal Credit
Council Tax Reduction
Personal Independence Payments
Single room rent for under 35s
Prior to the changes introduced in January 2012, single people under the
age of 25 were only entitled to single room rent in the private sector i.e.
bedsit rent. Following the changes this restriction has been extended to
cover single people up to the age of 35. Most supported housing is
excluded from the restriction, but when clients are ready to move on from
a one bedroomed supported property, they will only be entitled to Housing
Benefit for a room in a shared house/House in Multiple Occupation.
The majority of the single homeless applicants the council deals with are
aged under 35.
Total Benefit Cap
Introduced locally from July 2013, the total benefit cap restricts qualifying
benefits to £350 per week for single households and £500 per week for
couples and lone parents. The element of benefit that is cut as and when
the cap is reached is Housing Benefit.
The last data scan in June 2013 prior to implementation identified 23
households affected in the Harrogate District, with potential losses ranging
from £4.18 to £165 per week. The majority [14] of the households were
on Income support and by definition would face some difficulty being able
change their income position through seeking and obtaining employment.
The breakdown of the projected impact was as follows:
Amount of Benefit to
be capped (per week
£0 - £20.00
£20.01 - £40.00
£40.01 - £60.00
£60.01 - £80.00
£80.01 - £100
£100+
Total
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Total cases
affected
6
3
6
2
2
4
23
Private sector
cases
3
2
2
2
1
2
12
Social
sector cases
3
1
4
0
1
2
11
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FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
Each case will be looked at individually and direct contact made with the
tenant and landlord where appropriate to discuss the impact and options
available.
Social Size Criteria
From April 2012 the social size criteria were introduced for social housing
tenants. This resulted in Housing Benefit being reduced by 14% for
households deemed to have one spare bedroom under the regulations,
and reduced by 25% for those deemed to have two or more spare
bedrooms.
Records show that only about half of the council tenants affected by the
bedroom subsidy are currently paying it. As yet it is too early for arrears to
be substantial enough to warrant Court action, and it will be interesting to
see the Court’s view (nationally and in Harrogate) as and when
possession is sought for rent arrears which have accrued as a result of the
social size criteria.
Whilst the council is seeking ways to make best use of its stock (see
Priority 5 for details, there are insufficient smaller properties in appropriate
locations to immediately re-house all of those households who are subject
to the social size criteria restrictions even if they wished to move (which
some of them don’t).
Obviously this will also affect lettings in the future, with the Council in the
process of amending its allocations policy such that allocations of Council
housing are made to people who
Universal Credit (UC)
The aim of Universal Credit is to radically simplify the welfare system to
make work pay and combat worklessness and poverty. Most claimants will
receive one payment, which will include all their welfare benefits plus their
housing benefit. Claims will be made electronically, and monies will be
paid once a month in arrears, so new claimants may have to wait five
weeks before their first claim is actually paid.
The national path-finding project commenced nationally in 2012 over four
sites and it is fair to say that there have been a number of teething
problems. Harrogate has been named in the first batch of national rollouts
following the pathfinders, with Universal Credit due to be given to new
working age claimants in the District from next batch of areas from
February 2014. Over time all working age claimants will be rolled over to
Universal Credit as their benefits are reviewed. In the fullness of time the
system will also be rolled out to people above working age in the form of
Pension Credit.
There are concerns about all claims having to be made electronically – not
all claimants will necessarily have easy access to the internet - and further
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FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
concerns about the ability of some households to budget on monthly
payments when they are used to weekly payments with priority payments,
such as housing benefit, being made automatically for them.
Council Tax Reduction
From April 2012 the Government reduced the amount of grant funding to
Councils to provide Council Tax Benefit by 10%. Councils were then
given the freedom to devise their own local Council Tax Reduction
scheme, though with stipulations on which type of claimant should still
receive 100% reduction. Some authorities have had to start levying
charges on households who would previously been in receipt of full
Council Tax Benefit. Harrogate Borough Council to date has been able to
meet the shortfall from other funding sources so that all households who
would previously have qualified for full Council Tax Benefit continue to
receive 100% Council Tax Reduction.
Discretionary Housing Payments
As detailed under Priority 1 – Preventing Homelessness – Discretionary
Housing Payments (DHPs) help people in financial difficulty where their
housing-related benefit or Council Tax Reduction do not fully cover the
cost of their full rent or Council Tax. It is administered locally.
The funding available for DHPs is limited. This means that awards are
usually only made for short periods and are only given in cases of extreme
financial hardship.
The amount of DHP awarded to the Council has increased significantly
with the introduction of welfare benefit reforms as can be seen in the table
below.
Year
Overall
cash limit
£
Council
contribution
£
Government
contribution
£
Total
spent
£
Number
of awards
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
106,977
103,795
98,023
143,815
257,853
447,556
64,186
62,277
58,814
86,289
154,712
179,021
42,791
41,518
39,209
57,526
103,141
268,535
38,700
49,977
39,240
44,890
54,277
105
104
101
110
117
(Source : HBC Housing Benefits team)
The number of DHP claims received in April 2013 increased significantly
compared to the previous year; 59 up from 15. The number of new DHP
claims reduced in May 2013 to 48 (but still 33 more than in May 2012).
Awards have been made in 84 of the 117 claims made to date.
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FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
This has already caused a significant rise in expenditure in total awards as
shown in the tables below (the first table shows the total DHP paid, the
second shows a breakdown by housing type;
Total Expenditure
Pre-Year Commitment
April
May
Total
2012/13
£
4,065.23
3,364.76
3,183.24
10,613.23
2013/14
£
8,364.46
7,543.18
6,988.50
22,896.14
Tenure
Private Tenant Rent
Council Tenant Rent
Council Tax
Total DHP
2012/13
£
10,170.96
334.20
108.07
10,613.23
2013/14
£
17,070.38
5,825.76
0
22,896.14
(Source: HBC Housing Benefits Team)
The biggest influence on the growth is the introduction of social sector size
restrictions with 24 out of 30 council tenants awarded DHP because of this
measure. There have been 9 awards made for this reason to housing
association tenants and 5 of the private tenants awards are due to rent
liabilities being higher than the Local Housing Allowance rate.
It is too early to have any certainty with respect to whether the budget will
be oversubscribed or not but there is concern that it could be especially
once the impact of the benefit cap is known in more detail.
Personal Independence Payments
From June 2013 a new benefit called Personal Independence Payment
(PIP) replaced disability living allowance (DLA) for adults aged 16-64.
Initially it has only been applied to those making a new claim but it will
start to replace existing DLA claims from October 2013. DLA will continue
as a separate benefit for children aged under16.
PIP is to help towards some of the extra costs arising from health
conditions or disability. It is based on how a person’s condition affects
them, not the condition they have. Due to this change in emphasis it is
anticipated that a number of claimants who currently receive DLA will no
longer be able to receive PIP, thus resulting in a reduction in their weekly
benefit income.
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Wider effects
FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
The primary concerns arising from the various welfare benefit reforms
relating to homelessness are the reduction in some households’ incomes,
payment of benefits in arrears and the anticipated lack of budgeting skills
of some claimants, who are used to having payments such as housing
costs made directly to their landlords. These factors are likely to result in
an increase in rent arrears (and potentially other debt – especially linked
to payday lenders), and therefore create a significant potential increase in
homelessness.
In addition, the housing benefit amount payable on temporary
accommodation provided by and arranged by the council, is likely to
reduce, which could cause problems for applicants and problems for the
council in trying to find suitable and affordable temporary accommodation.
Under Universal Credit, sanctions will also be harsher – if an applicant
loses one element of benefit, the whole claim will be suspended including
the housing benefit element.
These issues will also make private landlords even more reluctant to take
on tenants who are reliant on benefits to pay their rent.
Staffing restructures within the Council
Both the Housing Benefits Team and the Neighbourhood Services team
(who manage Harrogate Borough Council’s housing stock) have been restructured to provide additional visiting staff capacity to deal with the
impacts of welfare benefit reforms.
It is too early yet to determine whether these changes will help staff to
provide an appropriate level of assistance to customers. This will be
monitored and reviewed during the lifetime of this strategy.
Harrogate Borough Council Financial Inclusion Strategy
The Council has been developing a Financial Inclusion Strategy for some
while and it is due to be formally approved in January 2014.
The strategy aims to ensure that the Council supports its residents to be
independent and financially sustainable and will support people into work
by creating a sound platform for people to take work and make it pay. It
intends to support residents by helping them to access appropriate
financial produces and services, providing advice and support in times of
financial crisis, and ensuring that they have the skills, knowledge and
confidence to manage their finances effectively. The strategy is due to be
delivered through three themes:
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Theme One: Financial Inclusion
1.1
Improve access to appropriate banking, savings, affordable credit
and other financial services
1.2
Improve/provide coordinated advice and support for residents that
experience financial hardship
1.3
Improve financial skills and knowledge in the Harrogate district
1.4
Fuel Poverty - Provide information/advice and target the support
available to reduce these costs
Theme Two: Welfare Reforms
2.1
Implement the Welfare Reforms – Coordinate and develop Council
and partner response and implementation
2.2
Review and develop council policies and services with partners and
the Department for Work and Pensions
Theme Three:Universal Credit
3.1
Prepare for the roll out of Universal Credit in Harrogate
3.2
Develop the support available for those claiming Universal Credit
A Financial Inclusion and Welfare Reform Task Group has been set up
within the Council. This will report to the Cabinet Member for Resources
monthly and the Corporate Management Team and Cabinet six monthly,
providing updates on the work that is being undertaken to deliver the
outcomes of the corporate Financial Inclusion Strategy.
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SUMMARY OF KEY ACTIONS
PRIORITY 1 - PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS
1.1
Continue to achieve 500 homeless preventions per annum
1.2
Continue to develop current partnership working – including Harrogate Homelessness
Project (No Second Night Out), Stonham (Pre-tenancy training), Youth HUB (education
outreach), County Homelessness Group (various projects).
1.3
Review future arrangements for single people – particularly developing a longer term
strategy for No Second Night Out and Severe Weather Emergency Protocols.
PRIORITY 2 - REDUCING THE USE OF AND IMPROVING THE STANDARD OF
TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
2.1
Monitor the number of households living in temporary accommodation and their length of
stay against targets set in the annual Housing Service Plan
2.2
Continue to look for ways to increase the availability of move-on accommodation.
2.3
Review the support arrangements for temporary accommodation provided by the
Council
PRIORITY 3 - REDUCING THE INCIDENCE OF YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
3.1
Support continuing development of the Hub, including implementing action for the
service review which took place in 2012/13
3.2
Develop additional accommodation for Hub clients with higher level support needs
PRIORITY 4 - IMPROVING ACCESS TO SUPPORT SERVICES TO PREVENT
HOMELESSNESS
4.1
Develop specific accommodation for service users with substance misuse issues and
those with learning difficulties
4.2
Participate in the local Developing Stronger Families (Troubled Families) initiative
4.3
Improve signposting by revising and updating the local homelessness directory and
publishing it on the Council’s website.
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PRIORITY 5 – INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
5.1
Monitor the number of additional affordable housing completions against the target set in
the annual Housing Service Plan
5.2
Work with Planning to identify suitable sites to meet the remaining shortfall of pitches for
the local Gypsy, Traveller, Roma and Showperson community, as identified in the 2012
Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment
5.3
Continue to consider and implement ways to make best use of existing housing stock –
for example Council home re-designation, introduction of Fixed Term Tenancies,
Harrogate Borough Council housing allocations policy review
PRIORITY 6 - SUPPORTING DELIVERY OF THE CORPORATE FINANCIAL INCLUSION
STRATEGY
6.1
Contribute to the delivery of relevant actions within the corporate Financial Inclusion
Strategy, including:
i.
Working corporately and with partners to improve access to appropriate banking,
savings, affordable credit and other financial services.
ii.
Improving/providing coordinated advice and support for residents that experience
financial hardship.
iii.
Improving financial skills and knowledge in the Harrogate District.
iv.
Coordinating and developing Council and partner responses to implementing
welfare reforms, including the introduction of Universal Credit.
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