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Strengths and weaknesses of the resettlement of single homeless people:
the FOR-HOME evidence
Tony Warnes and Maureen Crane
University of Sheffield
Making Research Count, University of Keele
9 December 2010
Topics
The FOR-HOME study
The main findings
The practice and policy implications
________________________________________
The study was designed and implemented in partnership with six
homelessness sector organisations …
Partner organisations
Funded by Economic and Social Research Council
Study design and data collection
The sample: 400 single homeless people resettled into independent accommodation by the collaborating organisations. Two clusters: London, and Nottingham / Leeds / Sheffield (Notts/Yorks).
Semi-structured interviews conducted immediately before being resettled, and after 6 and 15/18 months. Key-worker also completed questionnaire at baseline.
Interviews from June 2007 to November 2009.
The mainThe main findingsfindings
Housing tenure by region
Tenure LondonNotts / Yorks Total
Percentages
Local authority 30 71 48
Housing association 54 18 38
Private rented 17 11 14
Sample sizes (223) (177) (400)
Housing outcomes at 15/18 months by region
Notes: Excludes four who had died. Among those described as homeless, 12 were staying with relatives / friends, and 20 had returned to streets or hostels.
London Notts/Yorks Total
Outcome % % Number %
In original accommodation 80 64 292 73
Moved to another tenancy 4 10 27 8
Returned to homelessness 6 10 32 8
Unknown if homeless 6 6 24 6
In prison or rehab. 1 5 10 3
Sample sizes (223) (177) (400)
Housing outcomes at 15/18 months by tenure
Excludes four who had died, and 25 for whom it is unknown if they were still in a tenancyon. ‘No tenancy’ includes those staying with relatives or friends, sleeping rough or who had been readmitted to a hostel, and in a hospital or drugs rehabilitation unit. .
81
511
3
87
5 71
47
2227
4
0
25
50
75
100
Originaltenancy
New tenancy No tenancy Left:whereabouts
unknown
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of re
sp
on
de
nts
Local authority
Housing association
Private landlord
Type of accommodation in which resettled by housing outcome at 15/18 months
8884
42
58
26
7 8
32
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
Self-contained flat Studio flat Bedsit
Per
cen
tag
es
Original accomm Changed tenancy Homeless
Resettlement works for most, but many also have problems
Basic furniture and equipment not possessed when moved in
65
86
72
85
51
6368
5447
11
48
2
57
67 6761
0
20
40
60
80
100
No bed No cooker No chair No f loor covering
Per
cent
age
of r
espo
nden
ts
Local authority Housing association Private-rented Total
Average rent arrears (£) at 15/18 months by tenure
42 38
187
61
110 105
305
131
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Local authority Housingassociation
Private-rented Total
Pou
nds
(£s)
6 months
15/18 months
Percentages with debts over time (£)
45 46 44 45
5752
72
57
65 66
83
67
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
Local authority Housingassociation
Private-rented Total
Perc
enta
ge o
f re
spondents
when resettled 6 months 15/18 months
Percentages with tenancy support
42
61
27
47
28
47
25
35
15
38
17
25
0
15
30
45
60
75
Local authority Housingassociation
Private landlord Total
Per
cent
age
of r
espo
nden
ts
Month 1
Month 6
Month 18
Practice and policy Practice and policy implicationsimplications
Resettlement preparation
Many of those resettled have only a sketchy idea of the challenges they will face – and a few are over-confident.
Preparation could be improved with:
More attention to personal financial projections and planning
More peer advice from those who have recently been resettled
More active help with obtaining basic furniture (or with loans of camp-beds, hobs or microwaves)
Resettlement support
Many people run into financial problems, and among those who lose a job or go into full-time education, these can quickly turn from manageable to severe
Advice and support could be improved with:
More targeting of tenancy support to those who are most inexperienced and vulnerable
More continuity of treatment programmes for drug and alcohol dependency and problems
More intensive support of those who move into the private-rented sector or into high rent properties
Our warm thanks to …
All the respondents who participated in this study over a very long time.
Sarah Coward, the Research Associate, who carried out the majority of the interviews in Yorks/Notts. Ruby Fu, Camilla Mercer and Louise Joly who have helped massively with running the project and coding the data.
The freelance interviewers – Gary Bellamy, Paul Gilsenan, Louise Joly and John Miles.
Members of the Management Committee: David Fisher (Broadway), Caroline Day and Jennifer Monfort (Centrepoint), Peter Radage and Rachel Harding (Framework), Julie Robinson and Tony Beech (St Anne’s), Simon Hughes and George Miller (St Mungo’s), and John Crowther and Debra Ives (Thames Reach), and to all their colleagues who have been Link Workers or have otherwise assisted with recruitment and tracking.
Implications for resettlement of recent government announcements on Housing Benefit, social security benefits, Support-ing People, and social housing tenancies.
Tony Warnes and Maureen Crane
University of Sheffield
Making Research Count, University of Keele
9 December 2010
The Coalition Government’s ambitions
Reduce public expenditure
Reduce the ‘size of the state’
Reduce welfare dependency – ‘welfare to work’, and improve life chances of the most disadvantages
Protect the most vulnerable; reduce homelessness
Promote social enterprise
Housing benefit changes
The problem
Rapid increase in cost of HB in recent years, ‘largely a result of steep increases in private-sector rents driven by economic factors and the severe shortage of housing. Between 97/98 and 07/08, the average private-sector rent rose by 63%, from £79/week to £129/week. For many years, HB has been taking the strain of rent increases.’ ‘The cost of HB is expected to rise to £20 billion this year with the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), a form of HB in the private-rented sector (PRS), costing £2.6 billion in 2009-10’.
Source: Crisis 2010. Housing Benefit. Policy Briefing, Crisis.
Housing benefit changes
The proposals
Three phases of LHA cuts have been announced.
From April 2011, it will be capped at from £250 per week (1 bedroom property) to £400 (4 bedrooms).
In October 2011, the LHA will be set at the 30th percentile level of local rents (currently the 50th percentile).
From 2013/14, the allowances will be up-rated using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) not local rent comparisons. The effect will be to rein in LHA payments and reduce the ability of people on low incomes to live in higher rent properties and areas. form of HB in the private-rented sector (PRS), costing £2.6 billion in 2009-10’.
Housing benefit changes
Government determined to press ahead. Proposals being examined by HC Social Security (DWP) Committee
BBC: 30 November 2010
Housing benefit cap delayed for current claimants•Ministers have confirmed Housing Benefit caps will be delayed for people who already claim it.•The new £400-a-week limit was due to begin from April 2011, with another cut in benefit rates due in October, but existing claimants are to be given until January 2012 to give them time to negotiate lower rents, or move.
Supporting People (SP) programme
The problemSP was introduced in 2003. The initial funding of £1.8 billion was to be
used to support the delivery of housing-related support (i.e. housing with support) to vulnerable people, including:
• homeless people; • older people;• people with learning difficulties • offenders;• people with mental health problems; • refugees• young people leaving care; • teenage parents• women experiencing domestic violence;• vulnerable gypsies and travellers;
Value for money has improved. The overall value of the grant has fallen since the start of the programme. In 2008/09 the total grant was £1.686 billion but the numbers of service users supported nationally slightly increased and quality has improved (Audit Commission Supporting People Review 2009).
Supporting People (SP) programme
The proposals
Over the next spending review period (2011-15), the SP budget will be reduced by £6 billion (11.5%, lower than many other CLG programmes).
The government stresses that it wishes to protect support for vulnerable people, but as local authorities have to implement an estimated 10 per cent budget cut in 2011-12, SP is changing from an area-based to a formula grant, and it is no longer ring fenced, it may be expected that ‘less intensive’ services such as floating support for formerly homeless people will be disproportionately cut.
The role of social housing
The problem
• Greatly reduced investment in social housing compared with 30 years ago.
• Increasing shortage of ‘affordable’ or low cost housing
• Growing waiting lists -- there are nearly 5 million people on waiting lists for social housing. A quarter of a million social homes are ‘overcrowded’, while 400,000 are ‘under-occupied’ (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_192629)
for formerly homeless people will be disproportionately cut.
Photo credit: http://www.timothyfoster.co.uk
Consultation runs for 8 weeks from 22 November to 5pm on
17 January 2011
The role of social housing
The proposals
• Rents for new social housing tenancies will be at 80 per cent of local market rents. Rents for existing tenants will not be changed.
• a new "local authority flexible tenancy" with a minimum fixed term of two years for new tenants, although councils "would be free to set a fixed term of 10 years, 20 years or longer". A key feature is that a household's changing circumstances should be periodically assessed to see if requirements need to change – with housing associations having to evict people if they refuse to go.
Implications for the Implications for the resettlement of resettlement of homeless peoplehomeless people
Implications for the resettlement of homeless people
• More reliance on private-rented sector
• Less housing space and quality (lower LHA/HB)
• Shorter tenancies
• Less incentive for a homeless person to live independently?
• Likely to increase abandonments and returns to homelessness?
• Difficult to sustain the high success rate of resettlement during 2007-09
Contact details
Tony Warnes: [email protected]
Maureen Crane: [email protected]
www.shef.ac.uk/sisa/research/fields/homeless
