One of the biggest barriers to more effective use of the private rented sector (PRS) is perceptions about it held by many workers and residents within supported accommodation schemes, such as hostels. While many of their fears may be very legitimate, we believe that the case has to be made to them that with the right support the PRS can work.
We have worked with
Thames Reach to develop and pilot a workshop programme for residents and workers in supported accommodation schemes, to explore their perceptions about their housing options, and in particular about PRS. It is important for us to explore, and indeed promote, the role of the PRS because other housing or ‘resettlement’ routes are becoming more difficult to access.
The ‘traditional’ route out of supported accommodation has been for residents to be resettled into some form of low-cost permanent social housing (i.e. a property owned by a Local Authority or a Housing Association). However, it is well documented that there is an insufficient supply of permanent social housing for supported accommodation residents to ‘move on’ to, especially in London. This has caused a major ‘silt-up’ in supported accommodation, which means that residents will in many cases spend at least two years there awaiting move-on. In many cases, because they will remain in a relatively low priority need category, some supported accommodation residents are unlikely to ever be offered the permanent low-cost housing in a council or housing association flat that they want.
Despite this, many residents (and the workers who support them) in supported accommodation projects believe that if they wait long enough they will get permanent social housing – and can therefore be resistant to another route, the PRS. The problem with this resistance, as we see it, is that living long-term in supported accommodation, which is designed to be emergency or short-term only, can put a brake on people’s lives. The high cost of supported accommodation, which can foster benefits dependency (given that most residents are unemployed and rely on Housing Benefit), coupled with waiting for move-on, can make it difficult for individuals to progress.
The Supported Accommodation Workshop Programme worked with workers, to debunk myths about the PRS, and to provide a realistic (which includes positive and negative aspects) view of what living in the PRS would mean.
The workshop resources that we have develop are available to download below. We would encourage supported accommodation providers to use these resources to run similar workshops with their own residents and staff.
Homeless Link's regional development work also aims to change attitudes to the PRS. We are working with
Homeless Link to ensure that our work acts as a useful complement.
Downloads
Below are a series of documents and resources which together constitute a three-hour workshop for supported accommodation workers, and a similar but separate set of downloads that constitute a three-hour workshop for supported accommodation residents. The materials have been drafted to make it as easy as possible for even an inexperienced trainer to take them 'off the shelf' and deliver workshops to workers and residents. Even though they are each three hour workshops, the workshops have been designed in sections, any of which work as stand-alone exercises.
To download as individual files, it is recommended that you:
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create a folder on your desktop
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then right click on each download and click on 'Save As...'
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and save in to the desktop folder
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Then drag the desktop folder onto your network
To download the zipped versions, it is recommended that you:
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click on the link
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follow the prompt to save the folder
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save on to your network
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You will now have the zipped version of all the documents opened in a window.
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To unzip the files, click on 'extract all files' in the left hand menu
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Follow the prompts in the 'Extraction Wizard'
Supported accommodation staff workshop materials
Supported accommodation residents workshop materials