Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Housing and Community which updated Members on progress of the Improvement Delivery Plan of Priority 2 of the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-2024 (Part B).  An updated Improvement Delivery Plan and a summary of all the actions achieved since the Strategy’s inception was attached to the report at Appendices A and B respectively.  Members’ attention was drawn to some of the key highlights, as follows:

PRIORITY 2: Rough Sleeping, Homelessness and Meeting Housing Aspirations

In June 2022, a review of the Council’s housing service was carried out by the Homeless Advice and Support Team (HAST – department of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities).  They were impressed with several initiatives and particularly praised the Council’s Rother Tenant Finder Scheme, as well as the amount of temporary accommodation (TA) properties purchased.  Some areas for improvement were identified, namely to review the Council’s Allocations Policy, as well as oversee the increased demand for the service since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Council purchased four units of accommodation in 2022 for use within the East Sussex-wide Housing First scheme.  Funding of £391,050 had been secured and a further four units were scheduled to be purchased, which would total 12 units for 2023.

Through the Rother Sleeper Initiative (RSI), a gap in provision for vulnerable females, particularly in respect of female-only accommodation, had been identified. The proposal made by East Sussex Housing Partnership (ESHP) would deliver 12 respite rooms across East Sussex; funding had been extended to March 2023.

The Council had secured 22 TA units, with 16 occupied and seven under refurbishment, within one block of flats.  A further nine units were under offer at various stages of purchase.  Inclusive of the 22 units, eight were used to support former rough sleepers.

Up to 2025, Government funding had been secured to deliver the countywide initiative “The RSI & Complex Needs Homeless Service”; a seamless support service across the breath of the rough sleeper accommodation pathways.  A crowdfunding platform, launched in August 2022 and commissioned until summer 2023, supported the homeless.  Within the first three months, 32 customers were referred to the service.  The Council had commissioned BHT Sussex to provide specialist housing advice to residents across the district who were not eligible to receive legal aid.

The ESHP had been restructured to develop specialist sub-groups that would facilitate greater partnership working across housing development and homelessness support services.  To complement the restructure, a new Housing Partnership Lead had been recruited, funded by the Local Housing Authorities and East Sussex Public Health; the post would be jointly line-managed by the Head of Housing and Community and Public Health.

In March 2022, the Homes for Ukraine scheme was established which matched Ukrainian guests with accommodation hosts.  The Council had worked in partnership with several organisations to ensure there was support available.  Additional staff resources had been employed to support this work.

During the discussion the following salient points were noted:

·         Members were very pleased with the progress that had been made on this side of the Strategy and hoped that the innovation and creativity in the service would not be pruned back as part of the Financial Stability Programme;

·         other suggestions for exploration included a buddy scheme for residents living alone in large properties and whether they could move in with neighbours leaving a vacant property for use;

·         promoting schemes that allowed for rent payments to be reported on credit ratings allowing tenants to build up a credit history and ultimately improve their credit rating by paying their rent on time each month and increasing chances of mortgages and home ownership; and

·         it was noted that the length of time a former rough sleeper could be supported in TA would depend on each case but was typically between one and two years but could be extended if necessary.

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homes addressed the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and commended the work that the Head of Service and his team were doing to mitigate the problem of homelessness.  Lobbying of central Government on housing issues was on-going and the points raised under this and the previous item (CB22/47) were uppermost in the aspirations of the Council’s Housing Company to address.

RESOLVED:  That:

1)   Cabinet be requested to agree that the ‘targets achieved’ as listed in Appendix B to the report be removed from the Improvement Delivery Plan and replaced with the amended targets proposed at Appendix A to the report; and

2)   the progress made against the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy included in the Improvement Delivery Plan (Appendix A to the report) be noted.