This Symposium is now fully booked.
The Issues
One of the main barriers which emerged at the Future Search conference was the reluctance of homeless people to consider a private sector tenancy as a rehousing option. This was felt to be linked to a "mental model" which can be summed up as:-
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"If you sit tight long enough in the hostel sector, you will be offered move-on housing in social housing."
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"If you accept a place in the PRS you will forfeit your entitlement to a social-rented move-on place."
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"PRS tenancies are less desirable than tenancies in social housing – they are more precarious (there is a perception that Assured Shorthold Tenancies mean that you may have to move every 6 months), and less tolerant of occasional slips in rent payment and other tenancy obligations."
A number of points emerged during the Future Search which it was felt might help to alter this mental model:-
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people living in hostels are becoming increasingly dependent on choice-based lettings schemes as other sources of move-on dry up
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the allocation of bands within choice-based lettings systems has the potential to give people living in hostels a much clearer idea of how long they would have to wait for an offer
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some authorities are allowing people to retain their banding if they accepted a private rented sector tenancy, thus "keeping their place in the queue".
In a number of discussions it was felt that these factors, taken together, could change the terms of the debate to "
if you have to wait X years for your offer, would you rather do so in a hostel or in a place of your own in the private sector?" A number of choice-based lettings schemes are beginning to integrate private sector vacancies into their web-based systems.
It was also felt that the fact that choice-based lettings schemes operate across borough boundaries could have implications for reducing the importance of "local connection" issues in rehousing, and for the delivery of post-housing support.
Outline agenda
The aim of this symposium was to explore how the Housing Options/choice-based lettings approach could be used to promote the use of private sector lettings as a move-on resource. Areas covered included:
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examples of creative practices (estimated waiting times, "keeping a place in the queue" etc)
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potential for closer working between private rented sector access schemes and choice-based lettings schemes – and for mirroring a choice-based approach in private sector access (e.g. through a "clearing house" model between individual schemes)
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implications of rehousing across borough boundaries for support packages.
Desired outcomes
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publication of creative approaches which could be copied elsewhere
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an agenda for discussion at strategic level
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ideas for potential pilot projects
Key participants
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Sub-regional homelessness coordinators
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Housing Options Team staff/managers
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Homelessness and intermediary agencies
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Relevant staff from Locata, Home Connections etc
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GLA/London Councils
A report detailing the findings of the symposium programme is currently
being produced and will be available to download for free from this
website during February 2008.