Piecing together the private rented sector

Elmbridge Rentstart started as a simple rent deposit scheme. With initial funding from EBC we first opened our doors in We now offer a range of services to help single, homeless, local people into safe, secure rented accommodation. We offer them both pre-tenancy training and ongoing tenancy support. This year we are developing a sharers project helping to establish a good sustainable sharing solution.

This is a pilot project looking at trying to find new ways of dealing with the impact of the welfare reform changes to the single room rate. Elmbridge has very little shared accommodation and the rents are high. We will look at the changes that affect the under 35s and help develop new solutions. In Elmbridge the LHA for a single room is £84pw while most rooms are at least £100pw. We aim to: ›Develop new ways of bringing more shared accommodation into Elmbridge ›Training flats and move-on flats ›Loans to landlords ›Develop a lodger scheme ›Pre-tenancy training ›Rent in advance and deposits ›Ongoing support

Client referred to our service We assess each client and assign them to best service Emergency accommodation Tenancy training Housing benefit help/DHP Rent-in-advance Matching up the tenants Deposit Guarantee Bond Strong tenancy management Rebuilding lives finding employment

›Friction between tenants ›Utilities - who pays what? ›Council Tax ›Who does the cleaning? ›Moving unsuitable tenants on ›One tenant dominates the household

›Why be a peer tenant? ›What's in it for them? ›They need support too ›How long should they stay? ›How to look after your Peer Landlords

Sometimes you need to have a flexible approach to tenant matching and be prepared to move a tenant on quickly to another property if you find the fit is not right.

›It is OK to get it wrong ›Trust your instincts ›Try to set up a short trial period so you can see how the tenants interact ›Remember – People always see things from their own point of view and the truth usually lies in the middle

›It is very hard to be all things to all clients ›Other groups in your area may welcome working with you ›Find your local contacts and engage as much as you can with them ›Develop your landlord base by seeking out new landlords who may have never worked with your client group

›After listening to local landlords we established an accidental landlord loan scheme ›We found that landlords were finding it difficult to fund necessary property improvements ›A local charity agreed to offer interest free loans as long as the properties were for our clients ›The York Road Project has offered training to their homeless clients as painters and decorators

›Better understanding of your clients with a more holistic view of the individual ›Good sharing of information protocols ›Possible joint funding opportunities ›Sharing of resources ›Access to training courses you might not normally be offered

›This is essential as most external funders like to see your work as part of the local authority strategic plan ›Most LA funding is only a proportion of what the service costs, currently ERS gets £20,500 pa on a 2yr SLA 2013/15 ›Our target is to house 30 EBC referrals in the PRS ›Ongoing tenancy support, sustainment work and pre- tenancy training is not funded by EBC but funded by external funders

›4 Sharers Houses ›2 move on flats and 2 training flats ›Jan – Sept 19 people went into our sharers project, all have had a level of training ›Of the 19 – 9 are either in work or on training ›16 remain in accommodation

Regularly conduct client satisfaction surveys which show last satisfaction rate of 99% from clients helped by our service We have established a client advisory board made up of ex-service users who will help the board steer our services to make sure the voices of the homeless are heard We have regular landlord forums / breakfast meetings and information exchanges to make sure our landlords are kept informed and updated Once a year we have a fundraising social event where funders, clients and landlords come together to support the work we do

›Short term emergency accommodation with help and training to access good PRS accommodation ›The need for services that support both the tenant and the landlord will grow ›Building good relationships with landlords and agents as well as supporting clients journey through unemployment to work will help prevent arrears and evictions SOLUTIONS ›A growing number of street homeless people needing instant access to accommodation ›The high demand for rented accommodation is growing and the gap between social renting and the private rented sector is closing ›A growing number of people in work will need to access housing benefit to top-up high rental costs CHALLENGES