End of year review 2013-2014

Advice & Support - Consultancy

12,067 calls were made to our housing consultancy lines

….a 22% increase on last year!

We responded to 27% more new and repeat enquiries, a total of 10,218!

9613 confirmation of

advice emails were sent

On average each call takes 28 minutes

In addition to calls the online queries were up by 32% for CABs with 526 enquiries, and up 64% for LAs & agencies with 234 enquiries

Members advice (by cases opened)

Q1 Apr - Jun 2013 Q2 Jul - Sept 2013 Q3 Oct - Dec 2013 Q4 Jan - Mar 2014

1517 1665 1608 2053

643 706770

651

Local AuthoritiesBureaux & Agencies

Regional matters – by cases opened

East Mids; 311

Eastern; 904

London; 823

North East; 124

North West; 384

South East; 1274

South West; 553

West Mid-

lands; 558

Yorkshire; 358National; 68

East Mids; 182

Eastern; 326

London; 218

North East; 78

North West; 268

South East; 524

South West; 396

West Mid-lands; 341

Yorkshire; 294

NHAS Consultancy Line (bureaux and agencies)

Local Authority Housing Advice Line

Top 10 presenting problems*

Landlord dispute/

problem/other; 1577

Possession action: s21/

other manda-tory; 757

Homelessness: general advice (homelessness/

street homeless options); 725

Dampness/ disrepair; 417

Tenancy de-posit problem;

404

Arrears: rent; 384

HB / Local Housing Al-

lowance; 335

Homeless-ness: chal-

lenge to home-lessness de-cision; 321

Relationship breakdown;

292 Homelessness: help with homelessness application;

291

*not including ‘other’

Homelessness: general advice

(homelessness/street homeless

options); 679

Possession ac-tion: s21/other

mandatory; 516

Landlord dispute/problem/other; 410

Homeless-ness: help with homelessness application; 374

Ineligible due to immigration status; 165

Homeless-ness:

Threatened; 136

Homeless-ness: chal-

lenge to home-lessness de-cision; 134

Relationship breakdown;

103Seeks Accommodation; 98 Tenancy deposit problem;

97

NHAS Consultancy Line (bureaux and agencies)

Local Authority Housing Advice Line

Training

There have been year on year increases to our training services, and in 2013-14 we have:

Delivered 394 face-to-face courses to 4170 advisers Trained 5561 advisers through our e learning or bite size Reviewed and updated 18 courses from our bureau and agency programme Developed 5 new bureau and agency courses Produced 4 new Bitesize, and an Introduction to advising on mortgage arrears

self study pack Reviewed and updated the Local Authority training programme and rolled out

a new welfare reform course Delivered 22 webinars Developed and launched a new online booking system for bureaux and

agencies Seen growth in on demand training requests – where courses are delivered in

house – and bespoke scheduling:73 additional course requests processed in 2013/14

Advisers trained (F2F) – all members

Q1 Apr - Jun 2013 Q2 Jul - Sept 2013 Q3 Oct - Dec 2013 Q4 Jan - Mar 20140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

557 405 702 680

354

491

314 302

Bureaux/Agencies LAs

Advi

sers

trai

ned

Course Topics

Rented Housing Issues Made Clear; 32

Mortgage Arrears & Possession Process; 29

Housing and Welfare Reform; 40

Housing Foundation ; 141

Mortgage Arrears & Possession Action; 6Homelessness Advice Next

Steps; 14

Hlessness Casework Skills, 6

Housing Assistance for Persons From Abroad; 12

Possession Proceedings for Rented; 39

Homelessness & localism sem-inar; 1

Mortgage Arrears & Budgeting; 18

Housing Advice & Relationship Breakdown; 53

Homeowners in financial dif-ficulty; 14

Housing Options and Localism; 25

Rented Housing Next Steps; 11

Courses delivered - Bureaux and agencies

Courses delivered - Local Authority training

Young People, Hlessness & Housing

Options; 8

Housing Advice for Housing

Options; 27

Basic Mortgage Debt Ad-vice; 18

Relationship Breakdown, DV &

Hlessness; 15

Persons from

Abroad; 35

Advising Non Priority Clients; 14

Welfare Reform for Rented Accommoda-

tion; 8

Advising & Assisting Non Prior-ity House-holds; 6

Spare Room

Subsidy; 4

Student Union

Tenancy Deposits;

6

Preventing Mortgage Repos-

sessions; 4

MRS Briefing, 2

Face to face Webinars

Information Resources

Housing and homelessness information in AdviserNetHousing Matters (bi-monthly)Adviser magazine (bi-monthly)Housing Matters factsheets for clientsRange of publications e.g. dealing with mortgage arrearsWide range of briefing material and FAQs available from www.nhas.org.ukMonthly e-bulletins to members

Improving Outcomes for Young People

This new website launched in May 2013 to help professionals working with young people on housing and homelessness issues.

The site is a knowledge base for those involved in helping young people sort out their housing problems and encourages local authorities and their voluntary sector partners to take a more proactive approach towards preventing young people becoming homeless or vulnerably housed.

Since the site launch in May we have had:• 5,567 website visits• 19,061 page views:  • 9,267 visits to the ‘Advice for advisers of young people’ page• 3,170 visits to the ‘Delivering services for young people’ page

Mortgage Debt Advice

18% more households with mortgage debt issues were helped this year, a total of 2400!

Developed and delivered Preventing Mortgage Repossessions webinars for local authorities and other voluntary agencies

Lenders had commenced possession proceedings in 45% of cases

Homelessness was prevented in over 1,400 cases,

40% more than last year

142 different local authorities referred cases to us

Mortgage Debt Advice – referral agency

Q1 Apr - Jun Q2 Jul - Sept Q3 Oct - Dec Q4 Jan - Mar0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Case

s op

ened

Client Outcomes

Cl advised & taking action self/with 3rd pty help; 293

Homelessness delayed; 19

Matter stopped on adviser's recommend; 23

Permanent existing accomm re-tained; 896

Client gets lump sum payment; 5

One-off case - client informed of all options; 108

Hlessness Casework Skills, 6

Client loses accommodation, no further action possible; 42

Client referred on externally; 98

Client referred on internally; 9

Outcome unknown; 114

Client secured permanent/settled housing; 32

Permanently re-housed; 54

Client secured temporary ac-commodation; 12

Client's benefit issues resolved/benefits increased; 7

Other outcome; 204

Client's housing costs reduced to an affordable level; 15

Debt issues resolved/Affordable debt payment plan in place; 39

Homelessness prevented, 226

Most common presenting problems

Affordability problems; 270

Possession action; 7

Arrears: mortgage; 1121Arrears: rent; 10

Eviction (bailiffs warrant): mortgage; 392

Eviction (bailiffs warrant); 5

Hlessness Casework Skills, 6

Possession action: S21/mandatory; 11

Supported Money Advice Scheme (Bureaux)

Handled 710 cases where the client was in mortgage arrears, at risk of possession and qualified for MRSHomelessness was prevented in 84% of casesOn average during the year the top two presenting reasons were illness and relationship breakdownIn about a third of cases MRS was identified as the option to pursue but in approximately half of cases were able to identify an advice/budgeting/income maximisation option that would enable the client to retain their homeJointly delivered the MRS Direct Lender referral option for LendersProvided in house support workshops to bureauxProvided briefing material and updates for bureau staff on MRS and mortgage arrears options

Development – Training for Bureaux & Agencies

New face-to-face courses developed Housing & Welfare ReformMortgage Arrears & BudgetingMortgage Advice and Possession ProceedingsHousing update courseRented housing issues

New bite size Housing disrepairHousing & homeless applications: the differentHousing status refresherIntroductory and starter tenancies in a nutshell

New self study packIntroductory to advising on mortgage arrears

Development – Training for Bureaux & Agencies

Can my client afford to stay in their home?Housing rights for agricultural tenanciesTenancy deposit schemeTenants of landlords facing possession actionTenancy deposit schemeTenants of landlords facing possession actionIntroductory and starter tenancies in a nutshellHousing court desk skillsLandlord harassmentApplying to suspend a warrant of possession

Courses amended, reviewed, updatedAdvising on possession proceedings for rented housingHousing assistance for persons from abroadHomelessness Advice- Next StepsHousing and Relationship BreakdownHousing FoundationHousing Options and the Localism ActHousing Rights for StudentsHousing Rights for tenants with tied tenanciesHousing rights for ex offendersLocalism Act 2011 and housing

Development – Local Authority Training

Developed and rolled out a Welfare Reform for Occupiers in Rented Accommodation courseDeveloped a Security of Tenure course ready for delivery in 2014/15 Introduced a webinar on the Spare Room Subsidy to complement the face to face welfare reform course, and a Student Union Tenancy Deposit webinarCompleted course reviews of 6 core training courses:- Housing Advice for Housing Options- Persons from Abroad- Relationship Breakdown, Domestic Violence and Homelessness Prevention- Young People: Homelessness and Housing Options- Advising & Assisting Non Priority Households- Basic Mortgage Debt Advice

Development – Agency Membership

28 new members signed up25 local advice agencies and 3 national organisations

Overall membership included145 OVAs 12 Nationals27 Student Services12 Refugee and Migrant organisations

2 Registered ProvidersMembership

100 expressions of interest in membership15 expression of interest meetings22 existing agency meetings17 presentations to potential, new existing members

New members – voluntary organisations

Chapter 1LAMPLeeds University UnionHerts Young HomelessThe BridgeKeyhouseMAPEaves Housing for WomenDIAL (Leeds)Camden Community Law CentreCastle Vale TRAHomemaker South WestLook AheadSt Basils

Kent UnionGreater Kent Student’s Unions TogetherCoulsdon Sixth Form CollegeEncompass SouthWestGipsilNational Autistic SocietyBarnsley MBC Children’s CentreBerwick Youth ProjectHuntingdon’s Disease AssociationAston Students UnionWigan Housing Solutions CICShinewater Shaftesbury CentreReading Community Welfare RightsPrisoners Abroad

Resources

150,889 website visits – more than double last yearTop web pages for members:

Member PagePublic Publications for tenants

Bureaux Resources for Advisers

Voluntary agencies Training courses

Local Authorities Resources for Advisers

Alongside our established monthly updates to Local Authorities and Advice Agencies, from October 2013 we introduced monthly MDA bulletinsBi monthly updates for Housing Matters providing you with leaflets on the Spare Room Subsidy, Benefit cap, Full Housing Duty, and Suitability, and articles covering Eligibility for Croatian and A2 nationals, High Court Bailiffs, the Social Fund after April 2013 to name a few

Advisor magazine – contributed regular housing articles to this bi monthly publicationDeveloped or updated over 289 housing information items on AdviserNetProduced briefing documents on areas such as Tenancy Deposits, spare room subsidy etc for advisers – accessible through the websitePublished leaflets for the general public, such as ‘Can I afford my mortgage?’

FeedbackConsultancy LineWe saw an increase in the number of returned surveys this year – thank you for taking the time to provide feedback! (NB COA = confirmation of advice)

LAHAL - 17% of all COAs sent resulted in a completed surveyNHAS - 12% of all COAs sent resulted in a completed surveyOverall - 13% return rate The information and advice given on the telephone was clear and helpful to my client. - 93% Agree or Strongly AgreeI would use the service again.

- 95% Agree or Strongly Agree

TrainingAgency training - 95% (average) rated the course as good or excellent, 93% (average) rated the trainer as good or excellentLA training - 93% (average) rated the course as good or excellent, 95% (average) rated the trainer as good or very good89% that attended local authority training would recommend the course they attended90% that attended local authority training thought the course level was appropriate

I regularly use this service and find it invaluable to support my role, my enquiries are varied and the NHAS

team never fail to provide accurate, and relevant information

about the issues my clients are facing. Thank you a million times

for this great service..(Advice Agency)

I’ve been asked to pass on the following by a couple of trainees who attended the recent course. They thought [the

NHAS trainer] was brilliant. They were not sure how to write this on the

evaluation sheets, but they wanted to express how good he was, that he was

very good at keeping their interest levels high and that they learnt a great deal. They are now very enthusiastic

about housing.(Bureau)

FeedbackMortgage Debt Advice

98% of LA’s that responded said that people they spoke to were friendly and informative.96% of LA’s that responded said that they would refer cases to the service again.96% of end users that responded said that MDA staff were friendly and approachable.98% of end users that responded said that advice was explained clearly to them98% of end users that responded said that they were happy with the service.93% of end users that responded said that the service had a positive impact on their case.

Agency survey

92% were extremely likely to recommend to a colleague82% are happy the training is meeting their organisation’s needs100% are satisfied with the Consultancy Line time taken to answer a query 90% find the NHAS website provides the housing resources and information they need

Thank you again for all your assistance throughout this

process. I can't praise [NHAS MDA] enough for your expertise whenever I've got in touch and

needed assistance. Very impressive service!

(Local Authority)

'Keep up the very good work you do.'

'Very satisfied. Thank you.'

'It is reliable, high quality and I can't fault it.‘

(Comments from agency survey)

Other activities - Preventing Mortgage Repossession Events

The Mortgage Rescue Scheme delivery group agreed to hold a series of events across the country to support wider communication of the close down of MRS two, and to disseminate and gather further information on lessons learned from the scheme.

Four events were held in Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and London. Council of Mortgage Lenders delivered presentations outlining the lenders’ perspective, the Homes & Communities Agency, and Greater London Authority (London only), covered the MRS programme and lessons learned, with NHAS providing an update on the money advice support available

167 delegates attended – with a good mix of LAs, CABs, voluntary agencies, and a small number of housing providers and lenders

Other activities - Preventing Mortgage Repossession Events

Delegates raised concerns about a number of issues but principally focussed on the loss of MRS and Preventing Repossessions Fund monies and the inevitable lack of anything to replace the scheme.

NHAS has prepared a Lessons Learned report that pulls together the positive and negative aspects of the scheme using contributions from key stakeholders – this has been shared and is available to view at www.nhas.org.uk

Other activities – NHAS supporting the Gold Standard Programme

The Ministerial Working Group published the ‘Making Every Contact Count – A joint approach to preventing homelessness’ in August 2012. The documents set out 10 local challenges for local authorities to achieve. NHAS secure funding from DCLG to provide LAs with Shelter Legal membership, training and tools.

306 local authorities took up Shelter Legal membership – each membership allowed access for up to 20 users324 training days, covering intermediate and advanced level topics, were provided and 4062 delegates attendedThe 3 most popular courses were: Homelessness Update; Housing Law Update and Security of TenureThe feedback showed that 95% of delegates rated the course as good or excellent, and 96% rated the trainer as good or excellent

Shelter Legal Training

Housing Law Update; 48

Homelessness Update; 59

Young People Housing & Home-lessness; 36Security of Tenure; 40

Assured Shorthold Tenancies; 27

Disrepair (2 day); 20

Homelessness Casework Skills, 6

Universal Credit; 29

Localism Act 2011 & Tenure; 9Allocations after Localism; 21

Other activities – Homelessness practical workshops

We developed a practical workshop for bureau advisers in response to the kind of queries they were getting. The format covered case studies looking at advising on Homelessness and allocation policies. The feedback we received was excellent for the content and format, and in the end 9 were delivered across England.

“Delivery included discussion and tactics which our advisers found

very helpful”

Other activities – Gold Standard Bespoke Training

NHAS commissioned the Youth Pathway: Developing a pathway for young people in housing need (16-25 year olds) course, and it was rolled out in March 2014.

The course was designed to ensure participants leave with a range of ideas, information and increased knowledge regarding how to improve joint working and prevention of homelessness amongst young people.

2 local authorities hosted cluster training for the Youth Pathway course, delivered by St Basils, and 38 delegates were trained

Other activities – Gold Standard Tools

NHAS (Shelter) developed:

Diagnostic Peer Review Tool: this has allowed LAs to assess their service with other authorities in a peer settingThe stats compiler: this allows local authorities to look at their local area statisticsNational Practitioner Support Service (NPSS) website: NPSS have overall responsibility for the delivery of the Gold Standard Programme

Outcomes

We wanted to find out more about the outcomes for you and your clients. The percentages below are based on the members that replied to our request for information on outcomes from NHAS support:

Consultancy Lines17% of respondents said cases resulted in homelessness prevented17% of cases resulted in clients securing settled or permanent housing100% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the service

Training for Local Authorities78% of those that completed the survey said their confidence in dealing with the training topic had increased, both immediately after training and sustained this 3months on89% said that they had been able to apply the knowledge gained45% said they had cascaded information they had learnt on to colleagues