1. Update on Housing and Homelessness
Andrew Palmer, Assistant Director, Housing and Built Environment, Hastings Borough Council

2. Strategic Context
There have been a number of significant legislative and strategic developments nationally which continue to have an impact on local approaches to housing and homelessness:
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
Housing White Paper 2017: fixing our broken housing market
The Rough Sleeping Strategy 2018
Social Housing Green Paper 2018: a ‘new deal’ for social housing

3. Homelessness Reduction Act 2018
The Act requires local authorities to work with people at risk of homelessness at an earlier stage. New prevention and relief duties were introduced, which must be exhausted before a homelessness application can be accepted. Each duty lasts up to 56 days.
Local authorities must provide a more intensive level of support to each applicant. The steps the council and the individual will take to address their housing situation are set out in a Personalised Housing Plan (PHP), which must be reviewed regularly. So far, 1,323 PHPs have been issued across the county.
The Act also introduced a new Duty to Refer people at risk of homelessness to their housing authority for certain public bodies (including adult social care, prisons and the DWP).
ESCEG will receive regular updates on the number of cases resolved at prevention and relief stage, as well as the number of PHPs issued by each authority.

4. Homelessness Households
The number of homeless households in East Sussex has increased by 122% over the past 5 years. Compared to a national increase of 9%.

5. Temporary Accommodation
The average length of time people spend in temporary accommodation has also increased considerably. The average length of stay is around 110 days in many areas, although this is often higher for families and households with specific accommodation requirements.

6. Rough Sleeping
The number of rough sleepers across the county has increased by 208%, compared to a 70% rise nationally. In 2018, 12% of rough sleepers were female, while 15% were aged 25 or under.

7. What do we know about people using our homelessness services?
Common reasons for homelessness include:
Termination of Assured Shorthold Tenancy's (AST)
Parental eviction
Eviction by other family members / friends
Relationship breakdown
Applications from individuals aged 25 to 44 are disproportionately high across the county
There has been an increase in applicants aged 16 to 24
Applicants are presenting with increasingly complex needs

8. Homelessness Funding
Local authorities are increasingly reliant on external funding to enhance their homelessness prevention activities.
Grant funding is often short term (sometimes as little as 1 year), and opportunities arise at short notice with limited time to mobilise projects.
While the additional resources are welcome, this approach creates challenges developing a sustainable pathway of homelessness support.

9. Grant Funding Flexible Homelessness Support Grant (FHSG)
Replaced Temporary Accommodation Management Fee (TAMF).
Ring-fenced for temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention costs
Fixed payment – increased use of temporary accommodation creates additional financial pressures
Not confirmed beyond 2019/20
Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI)
Joint project between Hastings and Eastbourne Councils
Improving access to statutory services, temporary accommodation and long-term housing solutions for entrenched rough sleepers.

10. Grant Funding Rapid Rehousing Pathway –
Partnership between all authorities
Working with rough sleepers with low/medium level support needs and people at a high risk of rough sleeping
Support to access and sustain accommodation.
Funding confirmed for 1 year
Accessing the Private Rented Sector –
Working with people in housing need (mainly those living in temporary accommodation)
Support to access and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector

11. Social Housing and Affordable Accommodation
Supply of social housing across the county is insufficient to meet the growing demand for homelessness services.
Waiting times on the housing register have increased by 86% over the past 3 years in some areas – reaching an average of 203 days in quarter 3. Waiting times are particularly high for families and people seeking adapted accommodation.
Turnover of social housing stock is also low – around 1.3% of the total stock.
768 new units of affordable accommodation were developed across the county over the past 3 years.

12. Number of New Homes Built

13. Challenges
Supply of new housing is not keeping pace with increasing demand
Ongoing funding reductions to partner agencies
Welfare reforms continue to impact low-income households
Limited supply of accommodation in the private and social rented sector
Private rented sector increasingly unaffordable

14. Opportunities
The new Homelessness Reduction Act highlights that “Homelessness is Everybody’s Business”. This provides an opportunity to refresh and enhance existing multi-agency approaches to tackling homelessness
New national strategic approaches are releasing more funding opportunities for homelessness, affordable housing supply and quality of accommodation
Ensuring learning from partnership projects informs future service delivery by councils and their partners

15. Opportunities
Linking activities to increase housing supply with broader objectives around income generation and regeneration
Work differently with social and private landlords to improve access to accommodation.
Use of public-owned land for residential development.
Creative use of Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to facilitate faster move on to long term accommodation.
Review of Local Housing Allowance, due in autumn 2019, on affordability of accommodation.