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APPENDIX THREE: OVERVIEW OF THE CASE STUDY AREAS
Case Study Area (A) can be described as an urban-rural area.
Trends in homelessness and intentional homelessness: Homeless presentations have increased in recent years and there was a 17% increase in applications, from 1,014 in 2003-04 to 1182 in 2004-05. Also notably on the increase are findings of intentional homelessness, which rose from 58 in 2003/04 (5.7% of all applications) to 103 in 2004-05 (8.7% of total applicants).
Temporary accommodation: Temporary accommodation is generally provided in one of 3 hostels - 2 mainstream and used for single people, with the third unit consisting of furnished self contained flats for homeless families. The local authority also provides dispersed temporary furnished flats. B&B is used in the short term, or in 'out of hours' emergencies. There are 2 Women's Aid refuges in the area, one of which is new build.
Length of stay: The target maximum stay in hostels is 28 days (currently usually 24 days). By contrast, stays in furnished temporary accommodation may be for around 3 months (the current average is 52 days).
Access to permanent housing: Council housing has declined through the Right to Buy, with 639 properties bought in the year 2003-04. Overall, 11,622 properties have been sold since 1981. The local authority's stock of lettable voids had declined by 60% from 500 at the start of implementing the homelessness strategy to 200 in 2005. As a result of this reduced supply and increased demand, the local authority is beginning to struggle to access suitable accommodation to meet its policy objective to ensure that all homeless applicants receive an offer of accommodation, although those who are assessed as intentionally homeless receive a single offer, compared with the 2 offers to other homeless applicants . Additionally, there is a problem in obtaining accommodation in rural areas where there is little local authority or housing association stock available.
Action on anti social behaviour: In 2003-04 the local authority applied for 6 ASBOs against local authority tenants. Four full, and one interim, ASBOs were granted. By April 2005, 14 ASBOs had been granted, including one interim ASBO.
Evictions from local authority dwellings: This local authority area had the highest number of evictions (for all reasons) of all Scottish local authorities in the quarter ending of 2005 18, a key determinant in findings of intentionality. In the year 2003-04, 11.3% of homelessness applications were due to tenancy failures, mainly due to rent arrears with the local authority. By 2004-05, this proportion had increased to 15.1% of all presentations.
Case Study Area (B) is a city local authority area.
Trends in homelessness and intentional homelessness: Homelessness applications reached high levels in the 1990s. The rate then declined from 4410 applications in 2000-01 to 4228 in 2001-02 (an 11.3% decline). It then increased to 4907 applications in 2002/3 (a 16% increase) and further, to 5490 in 2003-4 (an 11% increase). The number of households assessed as priority intentional homeless rose from 36 in 2003-04 (0.7% of all homeless applications) to 98 in 2004-05 (1.9% of the total applications).
Temporary accommodation: There is a range of temporary accommodation including B&B, temporary furnished flats, a unit of self contained flats for very vulnerable and/or chaotic households, supported accommodation for vulnerable people with a variety of particular support needs, and hostels managed by both the local authority or voluntary sector for groups such as single people, women and women with children, for example. It was reported that hostels sometimes refuse to accommodate households due to high support needs or problematic substance use, or if they have been assessed as intentionally homeless and are therefore not able to obtain a council tenancy. There are also temporary furnished flats, spread throughout the city.
Length of stay: The average length of stay in B&B was around 40 days and it was reported that in 2 cases people had been in B&B for 12 to 18 months. Average lengths of stay appeared to range from 5-7 weeks in a local authority hostel and a direct access service to one to 3 months in specialist hostels, although some provision, for example, for people recovering from addictions, is allocated for between 6 and 12 months.
Access to permanent housing: The case study area is characterised by significant population growth and high housing demand. On the supply side, the local authority stock is now subject to a large scale voluntary transfer ( LSVT). Some districts are characterised by housing in notably poor condition, alongside significant social and economic problems.
Action on anti social behaviour: In 2004/05, of 18 ASBO's applied for, 5 full and 13 interim ASBO's were granted. Six Short SST's have been used along with support to help the household sustain the tenancy, but not where ASBO's have been granted.
Case Study Area (C) is significantly rural. The authority is divided into 8 administrative areas, each with its own centre. The Council headquarters are based in a thriving urban centre.
Trends in homelessness and intentional homelessness: Homeless applications rose in the area between 2001-02 and 2004-05, from a total of 984 19 to 2288 (a 133% increase). In 2004-05, 58 or 3% of applicants were found to be intentionally homeless compared with 3.4% at Scottish level (Scottish Executive figures).
Temporary accommodation: The temporary accommodation available to homeless households consists of a mix of hostels, B&Bs, supported accommodation, 'group' homes, refuges and temporary furnished flats, sourced from the local authority's own stock, from RSLs and from the private sector. Six hostels are provided across 3 of the Council's 8 areas and 4 of them are located in one urban area. Of these 4, 3 hostels are single sex (2 are for women only and one is for men only). Overall, there is serious pressure on the temporary accommodation that can be exacerbated by tourism. One area office recently had to place 2 young men in temporary accommodation outwith the Council area involving a bus journey of 3 hours, as there was no vacancy in their area.
Length of stay: The average length of stay is 135 days in Council or RSL temporary furnished flats; 41 days in B&B; 80 days in 'short-stay' hostels; and 106 days in private sector accommodation ( e.g. flats, bedsits).
Access to permanent housing: There is a stark shortage of affordable housing to rent within the area, exacerbated by the fact that the Council lost 37% of its stock through the Right to Buy, between 1980 and 1999. In 2002/03 homeless households accounted for 22% of waiting lets in the Council as a whole. In one of the 8 Council areas the proportion rose to 47%, and in the area with the largest proportion of presentations, 37% of lets went to homeless households. 20
Action on anti social behaviour: There has been a significant rise in the use of ASBOs. Over the 2 years 2002-03 and 2003/04, 6 were granted (although 12 had been sought) with the volume doubled to 12 in 2004-05. No tenancies had been converted to short SSTs at the time of the study. There were 2 evictions in 2004, although neither was as a result of anti social behaviour.
Case study Area (D) is a diverse local authority area where most of the population live in mainly urban areas, but three quarters of the landmass is rural.
Trends in homelessness and intentional homelessness: The level of homelessness applications surged with a 38% increase comparing 2000-01 with 2003-04 (1808 rising to 2494 applications), although the annual year on year rise has slowed down. Between 2001-02 and 2004-05, the number of intentionality assessments decreased from 46 to 8, a percentage decrease of 83%.
Temporary accommodation: The accommodation varies from direct access accommodation for households assessed as non priority homeless (voluntary sector managed), an accommodation unit and temporary furnished flats managed by the local authority for households assessed as in priority need, and accommodation for particular groups, including young people, young mothers and women who have experienced domestic abuse (voluntary sector managed).
Due to pressures on the housing stock, homeless families are fairly regularly accommodated outside their normal area of residence. Single people are frequently placed in B&B outside the local authority's boundaries.
Length of stay: The average length of stay in local authority temporary furnished flats provided by the local authority is some 109 days or 16 weeks whereas the stay in the local authority accommodation unit is shorter, at some 63 days. In the direct access stays average some 31 days and in voluntary sector provision for people with particular needs, stays vary from 188 days to over a year.
Access to permanent housing: Council stock has been significantly reduced owing to RTB sales. This is particularly so in one major town, where long waiting times for social rented housing is the norm. This can impact adversely on lengths of stay in temporary accommodation, for homeless households.
Action on anti social behaviour: The numbers of ASBOs and interim ASBOs obtained have risen. From a starting point of 2 obtained and granted in 2000, 9 ASBOs and 12 interim ASBOs were obtained in 2004. There has been limited use of short SSTs. Two were created for households who had been evicted for ASB. No SSTs have been converted to short SSTs.
Local arrangements for homeless presentations
Assessment is a process through which applicants needs and circumstances are clarified and which has a gate-keeping role in determining which homeless people access accommodation and support services. Three different patterns of access to assessment operated in the 4 areas:
- Access through a centralised homelessness service with the option of presenting at local offices (Area A & B)
- Access through area teams (Area C and Area D). The latter refers applicants to a centralised team for temporary accommodation)
- Access either through area teams or through the centralised service (Area B).
In Case Study Area B, homeless applications are made either to one of 4 local area housing offices, a centralised assessment team in the main housing department office or a one-stop service with a duty housing, social work and health team for people who are sleeping rough or who have a history of rough sleeping. The central team has been accredited by HomePoint as Type 2 providers of housing information and advice in line with the National Standards for Housing Information & Advice. All the teams place a strong emphasis on housing advice, and particularly housing options advice, in their approach to homelessness. Case officers conduct full assessments to establish priority need and intentional homelessness. Housing staff stressed that households are only assessed as intentionally homeless for valid reasons.
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