Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Mid Devon District Council Housing Options
8
MID DEVON
DISTRICT COUNCIL
What is the Homelessness
Reduction Act?
Housing Options
Prevent / Intervene / Recover
What?
= Prevent more people from becoming homeless in the first place by identifying people at risk and intervening earlier with evidenced solutions
= Intervene rapidly if a homelessness crisis occurs, so it is brief and non-recurrent
=Help more people recover from and exit homelessness by getting them back on their feet
Purpose
Why?
The Act aims to reduce homelessness by:
Improving the quality of the advice available
Refocusing local authorities on prevention work
Increasing support for single people
Joining up services to provide better support for people, especially those leaving prison/hospital and other groups at increased risk of homelessness, such as people fleeing domestic abuse and care leavers
Improving advice
New ‘Prevention Duty’
New ‘Relief’ duty
Personal Housing Plans
Duty to Refer
Care Leavers
What has changed?
Homeless cases in Mid Devon
Statistics
B&B
Number of households in temporary accommodation
Number of Households registered on DHC
DHC
BANDs
Breakdown of bedroom size
DHC
BED SIZE
Duty to Refer
DUTY TO REFER
Referral to MDDC
DHC Lets
Issues
Approaches
Stats MDDC
B&B
YOUR QUESTIONS..
• What is the age that children/siblings are assessed to require their own bedroom. Does this change dependent on additional needs?
Questions
Normally 10 or 16 years of age depending on the sex of the children
• If you choose to move in with your new partner and you both have children, can you apply as a new family group for housing need or would you be considered to have made yourself intentionally overcrowded. Can anyone help if there is 8 people in a 2 bedroomed house.
Next question
Apply as a family group, but you may be considered as worsening your circumstances due to overcrowding, so it is a case by case assessment
• If a child has additional needs and a diagnosis of medical need do they have the right to be considered for specific requirements or be deemed to be in unsuitable property.
Next question
We will need to see, for example proof of High rate DLA or specialist secondary care health professional report. Again cases by case.
• Re hoarding issues: are there any services in the councils that are used when there are issues with hoarding. When we come across issues with hoarding affecting children what is the right process to follow.
Next question
The Council does provide a healthy home grant for this - Private Sector Housing Team. health@middevon.gov.uk
• When is a family classed as homeless. If they have been asked to move out and are about to become homeless on a certain date when can they be helped by housing?
Next question
Households are requested to contact the Housing Options team as soon as they are aware of a threat. (Prevention Act - 56 days)
• If a parent is leaving a property/ family home due to domestic abuse or for their safety are they offered additional support to do this.
Next question
Households fleeing DV can be offered help support and this additional support can be from SPLITZ, but also the Housing Options Team.
• In a housing assessment of need what is considered to be high level need, and responded to as priority need.
Next question
Case by case level, please see the DHC policy for a quide. this can be found on page 50
https://www.devonhomechoice.com/sites/default/files/DHC/devon_home_choice_policy_v10.2_september_2022.pdf
• Can you explain how the housing assessment works in identifying what size of house is appropriate for a particular family. For example if you have 3 children and are pregnant how would this be assessed.
Next question
This will depend of the sex, number of children and the age of the children
• If a family have become homeless and are staying with family and friends as a temporary measure, are they still considered to be homeless? We often find that overcrowding is caused by this situation ie a family of 5 moving in with grandparents where there are 2 bedrooms.
Next question
Case by case, we would need to review how they got into this situation, still be classed as threatened with homelessness. *Was this a deliberate act?
• If a family become homeless from a different local authority (private rental) eg Torbay and move in temporarily with family in Devon- which authority is responsible for providing housing assessment.
Must remember local connection.
=Have they lived in the local area 6 of the last 12 months, or 3 of the last 5 years?
=Do they have a parent, sibling or work in that district?
otherwise you may find them being referred back to the area they have come from, if safe to do so..