Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy sets out our commitment to preventing homelessness and rough sleeping in our District over the next 5 years. This Strategy is also available for download (pdf format).

Foreword

Councillor Nicholas Mawer - Portfolio Holder for Housing

I am pleased to introduce the new Cherwell District Council Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Cherwell and our partners working within Oxford and Oxfordshire are committed to improving the lives of those who are experiencing homelessness or are threatened with homelessness, to help them stay in their current home or transition to new suitable accommodation.

Housing and preventing homelessness is important to Cherwell District Council and “Housing that meets your needs” is one of the four Council’s Business Plan key objectives.

Partnership working across Oxfordshire is strong, and we are proud of the outcomes that we are able to achieve through working together with other housing authorities and providers assisting us with the challenges we face. There is however, still much to do. We need to continue in our collective endeavours to make best use of the resources and pathways available and continue to provide an evolving range of services that can appropriately meet the changing needs and challenges that we and our clients face.

Intervening early to prevent homelessness has been a principal objective for us and it will continue to be in our new strategy. Intervening early to prevent homelessness consistently yields positive results and enables us to focus our resources in the areas of most acute need.

Ensuring that there is a sufficient supply of affordable and diverse accommodation options is also crucial. Ensuring therefore that there are wide-ranging homelessness pathway options and improved access to accommodation for homeless people, both in the social and private sector, is important.

Homelessness and health are closely linked and homelessness can be a result or a symptom of a wider vulnerability and these circumstances are often outside of the control of the individual. To help prevent homelessness and rough sleeping and support individuals to transition into stable accommodation, we need to understand vulnerability and provide support avenues that help address these wider health and social factors.

We would like to thank our partners who continue to work positively with us to achieve our collective goals, ensuring a safe and suitable place to call home is central to our wellbeing and Cherwell District Council will strive to make this a reality for all.

1. Introduction

The Homelessness Act 2002 required all Local Authorities to conduct a review of homelessness in their area every 5 years and consequently produce a Homelessness Strategy which must set out our plans for: • Preventing homelessness in our District.

• Securing sufficient accommodation is and will be available for people in our district who are or may become homeless.
• Securing satisfactory provision of support for people in our district for those who are or may become homeless; or
• who have been homeless and need support to prevent them becoming homeless again.

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy sets out our commitment to preventing homelessness and rough sleeping in our District over the next 5 years. We recognise that continuing to build strong partnerships is vital to address the underlying causes of homelessness that affect people in our community and provide them with timely and appropriate solutions.

This strategy aims to address the issues that have a direct impact on homelessness, whether these relate to the wider societal environment or relate the individual vulnerabilities of the client group. Our strategy recognises the key role that the Council, its partners, and stakeholders have in delivering holistic solutions to reduce homelessness and end rough sleeping.

When people are at risk of homelessness, we will work proactively to help find them find long term and sustainable housing solutions, taking into account their housing, health, care and support needs.

2. Key achievements

Since our last strategy was published in 2021, the Council has made some significant strides in improving homelessness services in partnership.

1. A successful review of the Allocations Scheme. The bandings have been amended to ensure that all homeless households are seen as a significant priority.
2. Cherwell have been successful in achieving funding via the Rough Sleeping Assistance Programme to deliver 9 units of supported accommodation at Oxford House in Bicester.
3. In April 2022, the services for single homeless people across the County transitioned to a new service delivered by the Oxfordshire Homeless Alliance. Cherwell are joint commissioners of the service. The ambition is to move towards a housing led approach to end rough sleeping, to move away from large congregate style supported accommodation and find solutions such as ‘Housing First’ to provide rapid rehousing, settled solutions in the long term to end repeat homelessness..
4. Cherwell District Council Housing Team were successful in achieving grant funding via the Oxfordshire application to the Rough Sleeping Initiative. We secured over £1m of funding over a 3-year period to support delivery by the Alliance for the Single Homeless Service, including: Supported Housing, Emergency Accommodation, Outreach Services, and complex needs support.
5. We established the Single Homeless Team, to work directly with clients, offering a full Housing Options package, reaching out into the community to where clients are most likely to engage.
6. We have used grant funding to assist the survivors of domestic abuse. We have provided a specialist unit of temporary accommodation for vulnerable women, to work alongside and in addition to existing services such as refuge.
7. We have successfully reviewed and recommissioned the Citizens Advice North Oxfordshire (CANO) to deliver a debt and money advice services, with a specialist giving advice and support to those with housing issues.
8. We have established a dedicated Resettlement Team to support people fleeing conflict in countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine. Now in the UK with settled status we are working with partners to provide help, support and access to housing. This has included the provision of additional accommodation in partnership with the Ministry of Defence to specifically house Afghan families.
9. The Housing Standards Team have continued their proactive work in investigating and intervening to ensure Housing Standards and tenants’ rights are maintained.
10. The Council has updated its structure and how it provides homelessness and housing options services. This has recognised the new challenges after the decoupling with Oxfordshire County Council and the vital role housing will continue play in supporting the residents of Cherwell and in delivery of this strategy. New resources have been secured via grant funding to put in place a structure which will meet the challenges ahead.

3. Our vision and priorities

Working in partnerships to prevent homelessness and create new pathways that focus on customer needs to ensure a decent and affordable home for all. The four strategic priorities for our Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-29 are:

• Priority 1: Identify the causes of homelessness, facilitating early interventions to ensure a pathway to housing and reducing rough sleeping.
• Priority 2: Ensure that our service is accessible to all; engaging and assisting households who have difficulty receiving our services.
• Priority 3: Deliver long term housing solutions and help sustain tenancies for the most vulnerable, creating resilience.
• Priority 4: Improve access to quality and affordable accommodation across all sectors for homeless households

4. Background, Local Context and Challenges

Since the publication of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2021-26 Strategy there has been significant changes across which have impacted on Housing.

4a National challenges

The challenges posed to the sector as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic were significant. The ‘Everyone In’ initiative did play a role in refocussing the sector and how we can work more effectively with single people who are not normally owed statutory accommodation duties.

The Renters (Reform) Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, will change the legislation relating to renting homes in the private sector and is already influencing the private rented sector even in advance of it becoming law. The aim is to protect the rights of tenants and ensure private rented properties offer the suitable and stable homes that tenants need. Some changes within the Bill, such as the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, will lead to a practice change in the private rented sector in the coming years.

Affordability of housing is an issue both nationally and locally. Economic factors in 2022-23 have created financial pressures on households, with higher interest rates and inflation causing a squeeze on incomes and benefits. The pressure throughout the system creates pressure at all levels, but it is acutely felt by those on lower incomes. Obtaining a private rented sector tenancy for instance is as difficult now as it ever has been for someone on a lower income because of competition and rising rents as landlords look to cover costs.

There have been several government strategies launched over recent years regarding homelessness and rough sleeping. The most recent strategy, “Ending Rough Sleeping for Good,” confirmed new funding arrangements through an expanded £500m Rough Sleeping Initiative and a new £200m Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) to deliver up to 2400 homes and wrap around support by March 2025.

Resettlement schemes, such as for those fleeing Afghanistan and Ukraine, which have been established over recent years are starting to have an impact on housing options and homelessness services and may have a greater impact through the duration of this strategy. The move on from these support schemes into more settled accommodation is an emerging challenge in the local and national context.

The government has provided additional funding to assist with the potential pressures on services that are linked to resettlement and has launched the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) The purpose of this fund is to boost supply of affordable rented housing in local authority areas by providing capital grant contributions linked to property purchase or supply.

Legislation has been passed regarding additional duties to those who have experienced Domestic Abuse within the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. This has seen duties automatically extended to any victim who must be deemed in priority need. Since COVID 19, there has been a national increase in domestic abuse prevalence and this impacts on housing options services.

4b Local challenges

In 2022, Cherwell District Council ended the shared service relationship with Oxfordshire County Council. Retaining strong partnerships with statutory bodies and wider support providers remains a key objective for Cherwell.

Single homeless services in Oxfordshire have been commissioned in a joint exercise with the District Councils, City Council and County Council. The Oxfordshire Homeless Alliance began providing this service on the Council’s behalf in April 2022. This represents a change in commissioning and monitoring of services and decision to establish was influenced by a report conducted by Crisis and Imogen Blood Associates into homelessness services on Oxford. The rationale is that closer partnership working and central coordination across the system should lead to better and fairer outcomes for clients. The service monitoring, mechanisms of engagement and measurement of outcomes are still to be properly established across the system.

A Countywide Homelessness Strategy, led by Oxfordshire County Council, was agreed in 2022 and this review reflects the shared priorities of Oxfordshire Council’s and District partners. It is intended to link the various strategies and work streams across the County system that are involved in homeless service provision.

The priorities identified in the Countywide strategy are:

• Transform the way we respond.
• Proactively prevent homelessness. 
• Rapid response to rough sleeping.
• Focus on the person not the problem.
• Timely move-on.
• The right home in the right place.

As part of producing the new Cherwell Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, the Council has aligned these priorities with its own where possible and appropriate.

As is the case across the Country, the private rented sector is challenging in Cherwell for anyone on a low income or in receipt of benefits. The housing costs in Oxford City have pushed up prices in neighbouring districts. In Cherwell this has a significant impact on the housing market particularly in areas closer to Oxford, such as Kidlington and Bicester. Competition is also high across the County for properties in the private rented sector. The assistance households can receive via housing benefits or the Housing element of Universal Credit, is fixed at the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). Cherwell has two different LHA rates, Oxford and Cherwell Valley. The Cherwell Valley rate, which includes Banbury and Bicester, is lower than the Oxford City rate, which areas such as Kidlington are within. Bicester is an area of higher prices in comparison to Banbury and is more aligned to the Oxford rental market. But this is not reflected in the LHA rate determination.

Given the reduced opportunity and increased challenge in finding suitable forms of accommodation, more people are looking to secure Social Housing. Over the last 4 years the number of active applications on the Housing Register has almost doubled to around 2000 households. The number of properties which become available to let through the housing register have reduced in recent years, in line with a reduction of new build social housing being delivered. Therefore, there is pressure on the housing register to be able to deliver social housing in a timely manner for those in need. Many facing homelessness are single people, and this is a particularly acute pressure on the housing register in Cherwell. Nearly 50% of the waiting list are people who require 1 bedroom accommodation.

There are competing needs for 1 bedroom accommodation, along with those approaching us for assistance as homeless. These include from care leavers, from supported accommodation pathways and move-on, from urgent hospital discharge cases and from people wishing to downsize to reduce housing costs. As a rapid response to homelessness and rough sleeping therefore is difficult to achieve through the Housing Register and an offer of social housing for all client groups, but especially those that require 1 bedroom accommodation.

Cherwell have been committed to the delivery of new build affordable homes within the social housing stock. The number of affordable homes in the district has been increased from 8525 in 2019 to 9160 units in 2023. But the supply of available properties each year does not keep up with demand. As a result, waiting times, to achieve a nomination via our Housing Register can be lengthy, even for those assessed with urgent and significant housing need.

The number of people that are rough sleeping in Cherwell has risen over recent years, which is a similar trend to what is shown nationally. From a low of 6 in the annual rough sleeper estimate in 2021, this rose to 17 reported in the estimate in 2022. The Single Homeless Team work proactively with the Outreach Service and other partners to find housing solutions for many clients that are rough sleeping. This has resulted in few people rough sleeping without an offer for extended periods. Cherwell has also managed to limit the number of people who require temporary accommodation to a consistent number despite these pressures. We have an average of 35 placements at any one time over the last 2 years.

DLUHC have challenged all local authorities to have a plan to end rough sleeping. The County Council and Districts worked in partnership on a plan in 2022 and have updated this in May 2023.

Challenges identified in the plan are:

• the lack of affordable accommodation to prevent people from becoming homeless or provide move-on from current pathways.
• Shortage of 1 bed homeless in the county.
• Increased complexity for people in and out of services needing support to manage accommodation.
• Lack of care home provision for people with substance misuse and challenging behaviour.
• Insufficient or inappropriate accommodation to get people rapidly off the streets.

Specifically in Cherwell, we have identified with DLUHC a group of 5 targeted individuals who have been known to services for some time and regularly fall into repeat homelessness. We keep track of their situations and learn lessons from any interventions which can break this cycle of rough sleeping. The Council has received specific funding to work with these individuals as target priority group.

In 2022, Oxfordshire County Council launched the Overarching Domestic Abuse Strategy 2022-2025, as well as a new Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Strategy 2021-2024. The Safe Accommodation Strategy was linked to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Part 4, which introduced a statutory duty on all local authorities to provide safe accommodation support services. In conjunction with this, Tier 2 authorities like Cherwell received grant funding from Oxfordshire County Council to improve services locally and help with the pressures that may come with the new duties.

5. Delivering the Strategy

Consultation

The Council received 73 responses from its consultation on the strategy, these came from residents of the District and also from our statutory partners.

The consultation was very supportive of our overall themes. However, it did identify some areas where the Council has taken on board and added additional content. These are summarised below

• An action was added to the action plan in Priority 4, Improving access to quality and affordable accommodation across all sectors for homeless households, regarding the usage of underutilised buildings to assist with homelessness accommodation or services. This is following a large number of consultation comments.
• A further action was added following the comments received regarding tenancy sustainment and support once people are in accommodation. This will hopefully prevent repeat homelessness but will also hope to ensure greater engagement in the community and reduce isolation, so there are potential pathways into other support, training or employment.

For full details of the consultation, please see the appendices of the strategy and report.

Working in Partnership

Whilst the provision of services to homeless households is a statutory duty of the Council, the delivery of the service benefits from the support of many partners. These partners are both statutory agencies such as Health and Social Care as well as Registered Providers of Social Housing and voluntary sector organisations. We will continue to work closely with these partners to realise the vision and ambitions of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Partnership working across the statutory and non-statutory sectors is important for maximising resources effectively and ensuring better outcomes for clients. The Action Plan within this Strategy expands upon how these partnerships will be used and how they will help deliver the Strategy.

Monitoring and Review

The Strategy has been developed in consultation with partners and stakeholders who will continue to be involved in the delivery of the Strategy and Action Plan. The progress against these targets and outcomes set out in the Action Plan will be reviewed annually by the Cherwell District Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee