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Personal Housing Plans Toolkit

Andy GaleHousing Consultant

Personal Housing PlansA set of Personal Housing Plans to help local authorities prepare to implement the Homelessness Reduction Bill

ABSTRACTThis is a set of example Personal Housing Plans. Take the examples and amend as required and add in local services or options

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A TOOLKIT CONTAINING A SET OF EXAMPLE ‘PERSONAL HOUSING PLANS’ The Homelessness Reduction Bill The Homelessness Reduction Bill has been given its second reading in Parliament at the end of October. It has the support of the Government and is likely to become law by the Spring of 2017 with a commencement date to be decided by the Government.

The prime focus of this new legislation is to reduce homelessness by placing greater emphasis on preventing homelessness and improving prevention help for people not in priority need. There will be a new Local Authority duty to take reasonable steps to prevent or relieve homelessness for anyone at risk of homelessness within 56 days. This new duty will significantly extend the entitlement of many applicants who are currently only entitled to a duty to advice and assistance and require local authorities to provide early and more effective help to prevent homelessness.

Please note the following:

The advice provided in this and the other toolkits provided free to local authorities must always be considered in the context of whether a homelessness application has been made and triggered. Local authorities are reminded that if they have reason to believe that a person may be homeless or threatened with homelessness they are under a duty to take an application; make enquiries and issue a decision on that application. If the person is eligible, homeless and may be in priority need then emergency accommodation must be provided until the enquiries are completed and a decision issued.

The information and advice has not been legally checked and is for guidance only. It does not form legal advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the content and a local authority should always take its own legal advice when considering using any resource contained in this toolkit.

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Personal Housing Plans Set

LetterNumber

Personal Housing Plans – Housing Problem Page Number

1 This is your Personal Housing Plan

For the Housing Officer to note this is the introduction to be added to all of the Prevention PHPs (but not the homeless single or homeless family plans as these have their own introduction to that PHP). Use the text to help you to develop your own PHP introduction that is appropriate for your Council area

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2 Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because they may be unhappy with your behaviour as a tenant.

7

3 Your Housing Problem – We think that your landlord is seeking possession because there are rent arrears or it is claimed there are rent arrears.

14

4 Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because of a shortfall in the rent (where there isn’t yet rent arrears).

23

5 Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because they want a higher rent for the property.

30

6 Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because they want to sell their property.

36

7 Your Housing Problem – You claim that your Parent or Parents want you to leave their home.

42

8 Your Housing Problem – You claim that the relatives that you live with want you to leave their home.

48

9 Your Housing Problem – You don’t want to carry on living in your home because you say it is unfit or in disrepair.

54

10 Your Housing Problem – You don’t want to carry on living in your home because you say it is too overcrowded.

60

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11 Your Housing Problem Your relationship has broken down with the person you live with.

65

12 Your Housing Problem - You have left your home or are at risk of losing your home because of violence, threats of violence or emotional abuse.

73

13 Your Housing Problem - You are homeless and need to find somewhere to live (Single person PHP).

80

14 Your Housing Problem - You are homeless and need to find somewhere to live (Family PHP).

88

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This is your Personal Housing Plan explaining the things that you and the Council need to do to help you from becoming homeless (add to all the prevention PHP letters)

Dear [Name of applicant]

We recently saw you or spoke to you because you have a housing problem and wanted our help because you are at risk of losing your accommodation. We have carried out an assessment to see how we can best help you. We want to do all we can to help you to solve your housing problem and I am pleased to provide you with your Personal Housing Plan (PHP).

This plan sets out the actions the Council have taken, and will consider taking, to help you. Importantly the Plan also lists the actions we think you should take to try and resolve your housing problem. The plan has been put together following our assessment of your housing needs and circumstances and taking into account any support needs identified.

We think it is important to tell you the facts about just how difficult it is to find somewhere to live in the [Name of Council] district for anyone who may have to rely on benefits to pay all or some of their rent. We therefore need to work together to try and help you keep your accommodation or, if that is not possible, to help you find somewhere affordable for you to live.

I know how much you and many other families and individuals facing homelessness would like to receive an offer of a Social Housing home. This is always the best solution and would allow you to settle and plan your future from the security of long-term social housing.

However, we are only able to help a small number of the families and individuals who become homeless with a social housing home because so few become empty. A small number of households, mainly families, are able to receive an offer of a social housing home after spending some time in temporary accommodation. However, we are predicting that the number of these successful families will drop considerably due to the number of new families presenting, and the numbers already waiting for a home, compared to the number of homes that become available.

If you were to become homeless and are assessed as being in something called priority need we would have a duty to make sure that you have somewhere to stay but not a duty to offer you a social housing home. The people in priority need are families with children and pregnant women. Priority need is also given to some single people we assess as being vulnerable using a legal test we have to apply. It is also important to let you know that even where an applicant is assessed as being in priority need the Council does not have a duty to find everyone accommodation where we think their homelessness has resulted from something they deliberately did. We won’t know whether we owe you any accommodation duty until we have been able to fully assess your case. Where a duty is accepted many households will have that duty ended through an offer of a private rented home. This may be outside of our district depending on what an applicant can afford and what we can find.

We understand how hard it is to hear these facts. We want therefore to help you keep the accommodation you live in now if that is possible. If this isn’t possible we want to help you try and find somewhere to rent and we will let you know where you are likely to be able to afford to rent and the help that can be given to search for something.

Please now take time to carefully read your Personal Housing Plan that has been put together following our interview with you. Please start as soon as possible to carry out the actions listed in the plan for you to take as this will give gives you the best chance of not losing your current home or finding something else to live. Remember to record what you have done in the spaces where it asks you to do so.

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That way you will have a record for yourself to show the Council or any other agencies. The actions that the Council have taken and will consider taking are listed at the start of your plan.

Where what you would like as a solution cannot be met we will have told you this and why.

If you are not clear on what to do next please read your plan again. If you are still not unclear you should email us on [email address] and we will be happy to explain anything that you do not understand.

I hope you find your plan helpful.

Yours sincerely

[Name]

Housing Options Officer

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This is your Personal Housing Plan explaining the things that you and the Council need to do to help you from becoming homeless.

Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because they may be unhappy with your behaviour as a tenant.

Actions we have

taken

The Council have taken or will take the following actions to try and help you to from becoming homeless:

1 We will do everything we can to help you to sort things out with your landlord or agent.

From the information we have we think that they want to end your tenancy because they are unhappy with your behavior as their tenant. This will involve us contacting the landlord or agent to try and find out what solution they may be willing to accept.

Following our conversation I have or will email your landlord or agent to tell them the following information in order to start to try and find a solution they may be willing to accept. I have or will inform them that:

1. You are committed to address the things they are unhappy about immediately.

2. That I’m willing to help by drawing up a “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement” to be signed by you and that you are committed to keeping to those promises.

3. Your commitment to change and that this is strengthened by the fact that I have told you that the consequences of being evicted may mean the council may not help you find alternative accommodation.

Therefore your landlord can be certain that you realise the seriousness of the situation.

4. That I may be able to arrange other services to help resolve the problem.

5. That I am willing to set up a meeting between you and your landlord, to seek or agree a verbal solution and to help both of you put together a written agreement to reflect what has been verbally agreed.

6. I will ask your landlord or agent that as a result of these commitments would they be prepared to stop or delay any further recovery action to give you some time to demonstrate that you can keep to what has been agreed.

2 Once we have had a response from your landlord or agent and we are clear about the details of the problem and any possible solution, we will write or email them with what we call a “formal offer to resolve’” letter.

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We will consider including the following specific actions to help persuade the landlord to agree to a resolution:

Arranging a “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement”

If there is any hope of the landlord changing their mind I will draw up an Expected Behaviour Contract between you and your landlord to give them confidence that you are willing and able to resolve the problem that is giving them so much concern. I can put this together and would seek to discuss it with you to get your agreement that it is reasonable and you are willing to abide by it. I can then email your landlord or agent a draft for them to consider.

Arranging to Mediate between you both

If there is any hope of an agreement I am willing to meet both you and your landlord to try and broker an agreement and way forward between you. Alternatively I may be able to make a referral to a specialised mediation or conflict resolution service.

Providing some support to help you sort out the problems that are causing concern to your landlord.

If I think you may need some extra help and support to sort out the problems that are causing your landlord to be concerned I may be able to arrange this. We want to make sure we can help you cope with managing your tenancy and some extra support might help. You will be expected to cooperate with any help or support offered

If the landlord is prepared to consider a solution I will make an appointment/referral to (add your local details such as a specific or general support service either directly or via a council SP gateway/single point of access for support) and they will assess what help you might need.

3 We have issued you with your self-help pack containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible to try and resolve the problem yourself.

This is important so you are personally able to demonstrate to your landlord your commitment to sorting out the problem they are unhappy about.

4 If, despite our help, these problems cannot be sorted out we will work with you to try and find you somewhere else to live and offer you advice and practical help to try and secure somewhere else to live.

We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack” in case the actions we take together to resolve the problem don’t work.

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5 If you have passed the legal tests that require the Council to take a homeless application we will process and assess that application. We will have told you verbally if we have taken a homeless application and, if so, what will happen next.

Any application will have to look at the reasons why your landlord wants you to leave including any claims of poor behavior, or claims that you have not followed your tenancy agreement

6 We have advised you how to apply to the Council’s Housing Register, or if you are already registered, we will have advised you about your prospects and likely waiting time for social housing. You should also be aware that any assessment of unacceptable behavior can mean a person won’t be able to qualify for the Register, or stay on that Register.

We have also advised you of any areas you should put down or bid for where there is a better chance of obtaining an offer of housing.

7 I have also checked that the notice you have received would appear on the information we have seen to be a correct notice, and in the form required by the law, and that you are being asked to leave your current accommodation by the end date in the notice. You should not leave your accommodation on this date as you are still legally entitled to stay there until your landlord has obtained a Court Order and, if needs be, a Bailiff’s Warrant to evict you.

Please note that whilst you may be entitled to reside at the accommodation on expiry of the notice period, you will be liable for any costs incurred by the landlord in taking court action to evict you.

We will however, assess the impact on you and your landlord where you were to remain after the end date recorded in your section 21. We will assess whether we think it is reasonable for you to stay longer and will let you know our view on this

8 Add in any other actions:

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THE ACTIONS WE NEED YOU TO TAKE NOW

Remember to record how you have carried out each action in the spaces below where it asks you to do so. This is so you will have a record for yourself and to show the Council or any other agencies helping you.

Also tick to record you have completed each action.

Action 1: Take action immediately to stop the problem from getting worst.

You need to change your behavior and try and resolve the problem with your landlord as soon as possible and reassure them that there will be no further problems. You need to take immediate action to resolve or improve the position and you need to communicate this to your landlord.

At the interview you agreed that you would immediately stop doing – give details:

For the Housing Options Officer - Where the facts about the behavior the landlord is unhappy about are known to you bullet point below what the alleged problem is and exactly what the person needs to do to resolve it or stop that behavior.

For example set out what they need to immediately to show the landlord they can change their behavior.

Tick

Action 2: Carefully read the ‘Self-help Pack’ we have given or sent you so you know exactly what actions we want you to take straight away.

The first thing to do is to carefully read the help pack we have given you or emailed you so you fully understand how you can use it to help you, and what we want you to do next

Tick

Action 3: Make contact with the landlord or agent.

1. You should try to speak to the landlord or agent within 24 hours of receiving your help pack to ‘test the water’ on the chances of sorting the problem out.

2. Whether or not you have been able to contact them you should write and email them a letter setting out how you want to sort things out. Use letter 4 in the pack to help you.

This letter is titled “The landlord is unhappy is some way with you as a tenant or your behavior in the tenancy”.

Tick

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3. You should send the letter regardless of your landlord or agent’s initial response to you. Even if they have said they will not change their mind they might do so once they have had a chance to see your letter and that you are committed to sorting things out.

4. Don’t leave things - follow up the letter with a phone call or email within a week of sending it asking for a response.

5. If the landlord or agent wants to meet with you make sure that you show them the Council’s commitment to help letter in this pack and tell them you have the support of the Council in working with you and them on a solution.

Action 4: Record the response from the landlord or agent.

If the landlord or agent has responded write down here what their response is and whether they want to discuss a possible solution. Keep copies of any email or letter they send you as we will want to see them.

Tick

Action 5: When we have made contact with the landlord and agent and agreed a plan to solve the problem you must be prepared to agree to the reasonable actions for you to take in that plan.

For example: If we are able to persuade your landlord to let you remain you may be asked to sign a “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement” to give the landlord confidence about your commitment to change,

Or

We may expect you to agree to cooperate with any support we may be able to arrange to help you sort things out.

Tick

Action 6: Get together all the paperwork you have been given or sent about the tenancy.

When we see you or next see you we will want to see the following documents so please start to collect these together now. We will need to see:

1. The Tenancy

2. Anything else you were given when you signed your tenancy such as the Energy Performance Certificate and the Gas Safe Certificate

3. The Section 21 notice issued to you if we haven’t seen this yet.

4. If you paid a deposit we will want to see the paperwork that the landlord should have given you to tell you where they protected the deposit. This is called ‘Prescribed Information’.

5. We will want to see any emails or letters you have received from the landlord or agent and copies of anything you may have sent

Before you come to see us try and write down the dates and details of all contact between you and your landlord or agent since the tenancy started.

Tick

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Action 7: Taking the actions set out in the ‘How to find accommodation pack’ we have given you or emailed you

We have given or emailed you a pack to help you to find accommodation to rent.

Go through this pack carefully as we will want to see that you have carried these actions out when we next see or speak to you.

The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live. We expect you to carefully read your pack and take the actions listed to try and find accommodation.

Tick

Action 8: Apply to go on the Council’s Housing Register to be considered for Council housing if you haven’t already done so.

If you are not already on the Housing Register you need to complete a form to apply to go on it and you need to be realistic about the areas where you have the best chance of being housed

To be on the Housing Register and able to use the [name of choice scheme if CBL you need to register].

You can get a copy of the housing application form by [details here]

You can register on-line by following this link:

[www.xxxxxx. – enter details here]

If you need assistance in completing this form, please call/contact:

[name/email/telephone number - enter details here].

You can find out more information about how to register on the Council’s website at [www/xxxxxx – enter details here]

Tick

Action 9: Choose realistic areas or amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home

If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this ‘how to find accommodation’ pack which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need.

You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home.

We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten.

Tick

12

For the Housing Options Officer to record any other actions here

The applicant should write down exactly what they have done to carry out the actions listed above for that they have been asked to take.

I have taken the following actions:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Your Housing Problem – We think that your landlord is seeking possession because there are rent arrears or it is claimed there are rent arrears.

Actions we have

taken

The Council have taken the following actions or will take them to try and help you to from becoming homeless

1 We will do everything we can to help you to sort things out with your landlord or agent. From the information we have we think that they want to end your tenancy because of rent arrears.

Following our conversation I have, or will, email your landlord or agent to tell them the following information in order to start to try and find a solution they may be willing to accept. I have or will inform them that:

1. You are committed to address the rent arrears immediately

2. That I’m willing to help by drawing up a “Tenant Commitment To Pay The Full Rent In The Future agreement” to be signed by you and that you are committed to keeping to those promises.

3. Your commitment to sorting out the rent arrears and that this is strengthened by the fact that I have told you that the consequences of being evicted for rent arrears may mean the council will not help you find alternative accommodation. Therefore your landlord can be certain that you realise the seriousness of the situation.

4. That I may be able to arrange debt or money advice help to resolve the problem

5. That I am willing to set up a meeting between you and your landlord, to seek or agree a verbal solution to the arrears and am willing to help both of you put together a written agreement to reflect what has been verbally agreed.

6. I will ask your landlord or agent that as a result of these commitments would they be prepared to stop or delay any further recovery action to give you a chance to demonstrate that you can and will pay the rent and there will be no further problems.

2 Once we have had a response from your landlord or agent and we are fully clear about the extent of the arrears and the likely causes, we will write or email them with what we call a “formal offer to resolve” letter.

3 We have issued you with your self-help pack containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible to try and resolve the problem yourself. This is important so you are personally able to demonstrate to your landlord your commitment to sorting out the problem they are unhappy about.

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4 If the landlord is willing to accept a solution we may be able to provide or arrange some financial help or other help to resolve the problem and sustain the position

5 I have referred you to the debt and money advice team that we have access to.

This is the [CAB/internal - delete as appropriate]

Or

I have made an appointment for you to see the service on [date] at [time].

They can also check whether you are accessing all benefits you are entitled to claim.

6 If, despite our help, these problems cannot be sorted out we will work with you to try and find you somewhere else to live and offer you advice and practical help to try and secure somewhere else to live. We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack” in case the actions we take together to resolve the problem don’t work.

7 If you have passed the legal tests that require the Council to take a homeless application we will process and assess that application. We will have told you verbally if we have taken a homeless application and, if so, what will happen next. Any application will have to look at the reasons why your landlord wants you to leave including any claims of rent arrears and the cause of those arrears.

8 We have advised you how to apply to the Council’s Housing Register, or if you are already registered, we will have advised you about your prospects and likely waiting time for social housing. You should also be aware that we will have to consider the reason that you are in rent arrears and whether this means you won’t be able to qualify for or stay on the Register. We have also advised you of any areas you should put down or bid for where there is a better chance of obtaining an offer of housing


Please note that whilst you may be entitled to reside at the accommodation on expiry of the notice period, you will be liable for any costs incurred by the landlord in taking court action to evict you. We will however, assess the impact on you and your landlord where you were to remain after the end date recorded in your section 21.

We will assess whether we think it is reasonable for you to stay longer and will let you know our view on this.

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Also tick to record you have completed.

Action 1: You need to take immediate action to sort out the rent arrears so you can reassure your landlord that there is a solution.

I have first set out below the reasons why I think you have got into rent arrears and then the things you need to do straight away to try and resolve the arrears and show your landlord that you are serious about resolving them.

Reasons for your rent arrears:

1. Despite being in receipt of full or partial housing benefit to pay the rent or towards the rent you are still struggling to pay your rent because of your other financial commitments.

2. You receive housing benefit and this is paid to you and you have failed to pass all of it or some of it onto your landlord to pay your rent.

3. Despite being in receipt of housing benefit that benefit payment does not cover your full rent.

This is because: delete as appropriate from the list below so you are satisfied that you have captured the right problem:

The Local Housing Allowance set for the area where you live is restricted leaving a shortfall of and you are in rent arrears.

There is a shortfall in rent due to the fact that something called a non-dependent deduction has been applied to your claim and this is money you have to pay directly to your landlord to meet your rent.

You have not yet submitted an application for housing benefit.

Your housing benefit claim is not in payment due to you not having submitted documents the housing benefit service needs to assess your claim.

Your housing benefit claim has been closed due to you failing to submit documents or a review form.

There has been an overpayment of housing benefit because of a present or past overpayment decision by the housing benefit service and this is being recovered from your benefit leading to rent arrears.

At the interview we discussed what actions both the Council and you need to take to resolve this problem and I have set these out below. I also explained your liability to pay the full rent and how much you must pay.

Tick

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These are the things you need to do immediately.

The Housing Options Officer should list in bullet points here any immediate actions that the tenant needs to take. For example:

You must attend the appointment made with the Debt Advice Service or Officer.

You need to provide the following documents to get your housing benefit claim assessed so a payment can be made.

You should fill out the financial statement in your self-help pack and return it.

I have discussed with you the reasons why you have failed to pay the rent and have concluded that you may have difficulty in paying the rent because of difficulty in managing your financial affairs. I have therefore helped you to make a claim for housing benefit to be paid directly to your landlord and this may reduce the risk of arrears. Housing benefit will inform both you and me of their decision on this application for the rent to be paid direct to your landlord.

You need to make a claim for a backdated benefit.

I have, or will, help you, to make a claim for Discretionary Housing Payments to cover some of the rent for a while but this can’t be used to clear the rent arrears.

You need to pass over the rent paid where it has been paid direct to you as the Tenant

Action 2: Making an immediate payment to cover all of the arrears or a payment to pay off some of the arrears so that the landlord is clear of your commitment to solve the problem

I have estimated that the level of arrears is [£xxx.xx]. You have agreed to take immediate steps to pay the arrears in full.

Or

You have agreed to pay [£xx.xxx] immediately to your landlord and from then on pay off the arrears at a rate of [£xx.xx] a week on top of the full rent.

I need to confirm from your landlord that this arrangement is acceptable to them /I have confirmed with your landlord that this arrangement is acceptable to them.

Tick

Action 3: Carefully read the help pack we have given or sent you so you know exactly what actions we want you to do

The first thing to do is to carefully read the Help Pack we have given or emailed you so you fully understand how you can use it to help you, and what we want you to do next

Tick

Action 4: Make contact with the landlord or agent Tick18

1. You should try to speak to the landlord or agent within 24 hours of receiving this pack to ‘test the water’ on the chances of sorting the problem out.

2. Whether or not you have been able to contact them you should write and email them a letter setting out how you want to sort things out.

Use letter 3 in the pack to help you.

This letter is titled:

“The landlord has ended the tenancy because of rent arrears”.

3. You should send the letter regardless of your landlord or agent’s initial response as even if they have said they will not change their mind they might do so once they have had a chance to see from your letter that you are committed to sorting things out.

4. Don’t leave things - follow up the letter with a phone call or email within a week of sending it asking them for a response.

5. If the landlord or agent wants to meet with you make sure that you show them the Council’s “commitment to help letter” in this pack

Action 5: Record the response from the landlord or agent

If the landlord or agent has responded write down here what their response was and whether they want to discuss a possible solution:

Keep copies of any email or letter they have sent back to you as we will want to see them.

Tick

Action 6: When we have made contact with the landlord and agent and agreed a plan to solve the problem you must be prepared to agree to the reasonable actions for you to take in that plan. For example:

If we are able to persuade your landlord to let you remain you may be asked to sign a “Commitment to Pay the Rent in The Future agreement” to give the landlord confidence about your commitment to paying the rent from now on,

or

We may expect you to agree to cooperate with money or debt advice and take the actions they recommend to sort out your money.

Tick

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Action 7: Get together all the paperwork you have been given or sent about the tenancy.When we see you or next see you we will want to see the following documents so please start to collect these together now. We will need to see:

1. The Tenancy Agreement

2. Anything else you were given when you signed your tenancy such as the Energy Performance Certificate and the Gas Safe Certificate.

3. The Section 21 notice issued to you if we haven’t seen this yet

4. If you paid a deposit we will want to see the paperwork that the landlord should have given you to tell you where they protected the deposit. This is called “Prescribed Information”.

5. We will want to see any emails or letters you have received from the landlord or agent and copies of anything you may have sent

Before you come to see us try and write down the dates and details of all contact between you and your landlord or agent since the tenancy started

Tick

Action 8: Confirming the exact amount of rent arrearsI have asked you to bring in any rent book or regular rent statements so I can check details of payments and any outstanding balance.

I will then be able to check that the amount your landlord says you owe is correct.

I can check that all the payments you have made been recorded.

I can check with housing benefit that any direct payments have been recorded.

I can check that any rent paid in advance been recorded and that the landlord isn’t mistaken about the arrears because housing benefit is paid in arrears.

Tick

Action 9: Taking the actions set out in the ‘How to find accommodation pack’ we have given you or emailed youWe have given or emailed you a pack to help you to find accommodation to rent. Go through this pack carefully as we will want to see that you have carried these actions out when we next see or speak to you.

The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live.

We expect you to carefully read your pack and take the actions listed to try and find accommodation.

Tick

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Tick



You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten

Tick

21




1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because of a shortfall in the rent (where there aren’t yet rent arrears).

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to help sort out the shortfall in rent. This will involve us contacting the landlord or agent to try and find out what solution they may be willing to accept. We will discuss with your landlord the possibility of reducing the rent or not increasing it to the level they want but cannot guarantee that they will be willing to do so.

2 We will formally write to your landlord or their agent with an offer to try and resolve the shortfall once we are clear on how much it is.

3 We have issued you with your self help pack containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible to try and resolve the problem so you are able to demonstrate to your landlord your commitment to find a resolution to the shortfall.

4 I have referred you to the housing money and debt help service. This is [CAB/internal - delete as appropriate].

Or

I have made an appointment for you to see the service on [date] at [time].

They can also check whether you are accessing all benefits you are entitled to claim

5 If the landlord is willing to accept a solution we may be able to provide or arrange some financial help or a payment from our Discretionary Housing Fund (DHP) or other help to resolve the problem and help sustain the position.

6 We may be willing to make a one off payment to your landlord towards meeting the shortfall. If we do offer this payment you will be expected to agree to make up the difference in rent that we agree is affordable.


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8 We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack” in case the actions we take together to resolve the problem don’t work.

9 If you have passed the legal tests that require the Council to take a homeless application we will process and assess that application. We will have told you verbally if we have taken a homeless application and what will happen next. Any application will have to look at the reasons why your landlord wants you to leave.

10 We have advised you how to apply to the Council’s Housing Register or if you are already registered we have advised you about your prospects and likely waiting time for social housing




We will however, assess the impact on you and your landlord where you were to remain after the end date recorded in your section 21. We will assess whether we think it is reasonable for you to stay longer and will let you know our view on this


24




Action 1 - You need to take immediate action to reassure your landlord that you are seeking help to find a solution to the shortfall. These are the things you need to do immediately.

Reasons for your rent shortfall

1. Despite being in receipt of full or partial housing benefit to pay the rent or towards the rent you are still struggling to pay your rent because of your other financial commitments

2. Despite being in receipt of housing benefit that benefit payment does not cover your full rent. This is because: delete as appropriate from the list below so you have captured the right problem:

a. The Local Housing Allowance set for the area where you live is restricted leaving a shortfall and you are in rent arrears.

b. There is a shortfall in rent due to the fact that something called a ‘non-dependent deduction’ has been applied to your claim and this is money you have to pay directly to your landlord to meet your rent.

c. You are impacted by the ‘Benefit Cap’ resulting in a shortfall in the amount of money you can receive towards your rent.

d. There has been an overpayment of housing benefit because of a present or past overpayment decision by the housing benefit service and this is being recovered from your benefit leading to rent arrears.

At the interview we discussed what actions you need to take to try and resolve the shortfall and I have set these out below. I also explained your liability to pay the full rent and how much you must pay.


The Housing Options Officer should list in bullet points here any immediate actions that the tenant needs to take.

For example:

To attend any appointment made with a Money Advice service or officer.

You need to provide the following documents to get a HB claim into payment.

You need to fill out the financial statement in your ‘Help Pack’ and return it/email it so we can work out how much you can afford to pay towards the shortfall.

Tick

25

You need to agree with us a shortfall payment plan we can put to the landlord as a resolution.

Need to make a claim for a backdated benefit.

You need to claim a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP).

Action 2: Carefully read the ‘Help Pack’ we have given or sent you so you know exactly what actions we want you to do

The first thing to do is to carefully read the Help Pack we have given or emailed you so you fully understand how you can use it to help you, and what we want you to do next

Tick

Action 3: Fill out the “How much can I afford in rent” assessment form in your Help Pack

This is so you and we have a much better idea about how much you can afford to pay towards the shortfall. This figures you provide can be checked when we see you

Tick

Action 4: Make contact with the landlord or agent

1. You should try to speak to the landlord or agent within 24 hours of receiving this pack to ‘test the water’ on whether they will be willing to carry on with the tenancy if the shortfall can be sorted out.

2. Whether or not you have been able to contact them you should write and email them a letter setting out how you want to sort things out. Use letter 2 in the pack to help you. This letter is titled “The landlord has ended the tenancy because of a shortfall in the rent”.

3. You should send the letter regardless of your landlord or agent’s initial response as even if they have said they will not change their mind they might do so once they have had a chance to see from your letter that you are committed to trying to meet the shortfall.


5. If the landlord or agent wants to meet with you make sure that you show them the Council’s ‘Commitment to Help’ letter in this pack.

Tick


If the landlord or agent has responded write down here what their response was and whether they want to discuss a possible solution. Keep copies of any email or letter they have sent back to you as we will want to see them.

Tick

26


If we are able to persuade your landlord to let you remain you are likely to have to pay towards the shortfall a figure that we think is reasonable taking into account your circumstances.

We may expect you to agree to cooperate with money or debt advice and take the actions they recommend to help make sure you can sustain your commitment to pay a bit more.

Tick



1. The Tenancy Agreement.




5. We will want to see any emails or letters you have received from the landlord or agent and copies of anything you may have sent.


Tick


We have given or emailed you a pack to help you to find accommodation to rent. Go through this pack carefully as again we will want to see what you have done when we see you.

The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live that may be more affordable. We expect you to carefully go through this pack and take the actions set out for you to take.

Tick

27










Tick


If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this ‘how to find accommodation’ pack which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need. You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten.

Tick

28




1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

29


Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because they want a higher rent for the property.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to help sort out how you can meet the increase in rent. This will involve us contacting the landlord or agent to try and find out what solution they may be willing to accept and whether they would be willing to accept a lower increase.

2 We will formally write to your landlord or their agent with an offer to try and reach an agreement once we are clear on how much rent they want and whether this is realistic.

3 We have issued you with your ‘self help pack’ containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible to try and resolve the problem yourself so you are able to demonstrate to your landlord your commitment to try and find a way of paying a higher rent .

4 If the landlord is willing to accept a solution we may be able to provide or arrange some financial help or a payment from our Discretionary Housing Fund (DHP) or other help to resolve the problem and help sustain the position.

5 We may be willing to make a one off payment to your landlord in lieu of what he or she seeking. If we do offer this payment you will be expected to agree to make up the difference.




30

9 We have advised you how to apply to the Council’s Housing Register or if you are already registered we have advised you about your prospects and likely waiting time for social housing.




We will however, assess the impact on you and your landlord where you were to remain after the end date recorded in your section 21. We will assess whether we think it is reasonable for you to stay longer and will let you know our view on this.


31




Action 1 - You need to take immediate action to work out whether you can meet the higher rent your landlord is seeking so you can try and reassure your landlord that there is a solution.


The Housing Options Officer should list in bullet points here any immediate actions that the tenant needs to take. For example

To attend any appointment made with a Money Advice Service or officer.

You need to claim a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)

Tick


The first thing to do is to carefully read the Help Pack we have given to you or emailed you, so you fully understand how you can use it to help you and what we want you to do next

Tick


This is so you have an idea how much more you might be able to pay towards the higher rent. This figure can be checked up when we see you. This is so you can agree with us a payment plan we can put to the landlord as a resolution.

Tick

Action 4: Make contact with the landlord or agent

1. You should try to speak to the landlord or agent within 24 hours of receiving this pack to ‘test the water’ on whether they will be willing to carry on with the tenancy if you are able to go some way to paying a higher rent.

2. Whether or not you have been able to contact them you should write and email them a letter setting out how you want to sort things out. Use letter 1 in the pack to help you.

This letter is titled “The landlord has ended the tenancy because they want a higher rent”.

3. You should send the letter regardless of your landlord or agent’s initial response as even if they have said they will not change their mind they might do so once

Tick

32

they have had a chance to see from your letter that you are committed to trying to find a way of meeting the higher rent. If they can see you are trying your best they may be willing to compromise on a lower rent increase.


5. If the landlord or agent wants to meet with you make sure that you show them the Council’s ‘Commitment to help’ letter in this pack. This also tells them we are willing to speak or meet with them to try and find a solution to meeting the rent increase.


If the landlord or agent has responded write down here what their response was and whether they want to discuss a possible solution. Keep copies of any email or letter they have sent back to you as we will want to see them.


If we are able to persuade your landlord to let you remain you are likely to have to pay towards the rent increase a figure that we think is reasonable taking into account your circumstances.

We may expect you to agree to cooperate with money or debt advice and take the actions they recommend to help make sure you can sustain your commitment to pay a more



1. The Tenancy Agreement.




5. We will want to see any emails or letters you have received from the landlord or agent and copies of anything you may have sent.

33

Before you come to see us try and write down the dates and details of all contact between you and your landlord or agent since the tenancy started



The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live that may be more affordable. We expect you to carefully go through this pack and take the actions set out.












You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten.

34




1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

35


Your Housing Problem – We think that your Landlord is seeking possession because they want to sell their property.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to help sort things out. The first thing we will do is to contact the landlord or their agent to find out:

a) If they really want to sell or if this is an excuse and they are looking to let the

property at a higher rent.

To inform them if they do want to sell that any new buyer who wants to rent can just continue your tenancy.

b)

2 Once we know more we will formally write to your landlord or their agent with an offer to try and reach an agreement. Even if they do want to sell, and do not want to consider you remaining as a tenant with the new buyer, we will still talk to them about you being able to remain longer to look for something else.

3 We have issued you with your self help pack containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible if for example the real reason is the landlord is wanting a higher rent.

4 If the landlord is willing to accept a solution and not sell we may be able to provide or arrange some financial help or a payment from our Discretionary Housing Fund (DHP) or other help to resolve the problem and help sustain the position.

5 We may be willing to make a one off payment to your landlord in lieu of what he or she seeking in a higher rent if that is the real reason they want to end the tenancy.

If we do offer this payment you will be expected to agree to make up any difference for a higher rent that we agree is affordable.

6 If, despite our help, these problems cannot be sorted out we will work with you to try and find you somewhere else to live that is more affordable and offer you advice and practical help to try and secure somewhere else to live.

7 We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack” and you need to take the actions in that pack as soon as possible.

36




10 I have also checked that the notice you have received would appear on the information we have seen to be a correct notice, and in the form required by the law, and that you are being asked to leave your current accommodation by the end date in the notice. You should not leave your accommodation on this date as you are still legally entitled to stay there until your landlord has obtained a Court Order and, if needs be, a Bailiff’s Warrant to evict you.Please note that whilst you may be entitled to reside at the accommodation on expiry of the notice period, you will be liable for any costs incurred by the landlord in taking court action to evict you.

We will however, assess the impact on you and your landlord where you were to remain after the end date recorded in your section 21. We will assess whether we think it is reasonable for you to stay longer and will let you know our view on this.


37




Action 1 - You need to take immediate action to work out whether the landlord is genuinely looking to sell or is really seeking a higher rent or can be persuaded not to sell. These are the things you need to do immediately.

The Housing Options Officer should list in bullet points here any immediate actions that the tenant needs to take.

Tick


The first thing to do is to carefully read the ‘Help Pack’ we have given you or emailed you so you fully understand how you can use it to help you and what we want you to do next

Tick


If we work out that the real reason for ending the tenancy is that the landlord wants a higher rent we need to work out how much you can afford to pay.

This is also important if you are going to have to look for more affordable accommodation.

Fill out the “How much can I afford in rent” assessment form in your Help Pack.

This figure can be checked up when we see you.

Tick

Action 4: Make contact with the landlord or agent1.2. You should try to speak to the landlord or agent within 24 hours of receiving this

pack to ‘test the water’ on why they have issued the notice to end the tenancy and whether they can be persuaded to carry on with the tenancy.

3.4. Whether or not you have been able to contact them you should write and email

them a letter setting out how you want to sort things out. Use letter 5 in the pack to help you.

5.6. This letter is titled “The landlord has ended the tenancy because they claim

that they want to sell the property”.

7. You should send the letter regardless of your landlord or agent’s initial response as even if they have said they will not change their mind they might do so once they have had a chance to see you are trying your best they may be willing to compromise.

Tick

38

8.9. Don’t leave things - follow up the letter with a phone call or email within a week of

sending it asking them for a response.10.11. If the landlord or agent wants to meet with you make sure that you show them the

Council’s commitment to help letter in this pack


If the landlord or agent has responded write down here what their response was and whether they want to discuss a possible solution. Keep copies of any email or letter they have sent back to you as we will want to see them

Tick


If we are able to persuade your landlord to let you remain, if they then want a higher rent you are likely to have to pay towards the rent increase a figure that we think is reasonable taking into account your circumstances.

We may expect you to agree to cooperate with money advice and take the actions they recommend to help make sure you can sustain any commitment to pay a bit more

Tick



The Tenancy Agreement.

Anything else you were given when you signed your tenancy such as the Energy Performance Certificate and the Gas Safe Certificate.

The Section 21 notice issued to you if we haven’t seen this yet.

If you paid a deposit we will want to see the paperwork that the landlord should have given you to tell you where they protected the deposit. This is called ‘Prescribed Information’.

We will want to see any emails or letters you have received from the landlord or agent and copies of anything you may have sent.


Tick

39



The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live. We expect you to carefully go through this pack and take the actions set out.

Tick










Tick


If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this ‘how to find accommodation’ pack which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need. You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten.

Tick

40




1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

41


Your Housing Problem – You claim that your Parent or Parents want you to leave their home.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to help sort things out at home. This will involve us contacting your parent/s to try and find out what solution they may be willing to accept.

2 We will help sort the problems out at home and help you to all to agree and write down the solution in a “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement” between you and your parent, or if they would prefer, we can help put together a written licence agreement where they agree to give you permission to carry on occupying their home in return for following their reasonable rules.

3 We can arrange for mediation help or arrange for a support worker to help sort out the problems at home and reach a solution that can be kept to.

4 If the reason that they may want you to leave is a financial problem at home we can try and find a solution to their financial problem.

5 We will formally write to your parent with an offer to try and reach an agreement once we are clear on what the problem is at home.

6 We have issued you and your parent a ‘Help Pack’ containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible to try and resolve the problem yourself so you are able to demonstrate to your parent your commitment to try and find a way of making things work better at home.

7 If, despite our help, these problems cannot be sorted out we will work with you all to try to help you plan a move into accommodation with extended family or friends.

If everyone agrees that the long-term solution would be for you to move out we can support any move to accommodation with extended family or friends and may be able to offer some financial help to find somewhere to rent.

8 We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack” in case the actions we take together to resolve the problem don’t work

42

9 If you have passed the legal tests that require the Council to take a homeless application we will process and assess that application. We will have told you verbally if we have taken a homeless application and what will happen next. Any application will have to look at the reasons why your Parent/s want you to leave


We have also advised you of any areas you should put down or bid for where there is a better chance of obtaining an offer of housing


43




Action 1 - You need to take immediate steps to change anything that is upsetting your parent/s at home and reassure them that there will be no further problems. These are the things you need to do immediately.

For the Housing Options Officer - Where the facts about anything that the person is allegedly doing at home are known you need to bullet point below exactly what the person needs to do to resolve it or stop that behavior.

For example set out what they need to do to sort out minor misbehavior, or persistent small problems, or complaints from the family or neighbours.

Tick

Action 2: Carefully read the ‘Help Pack’ we have given you or emailed you so you and your parent/s know exactly what actions we want you all to take

The first thing to do is to carefully read this Help Pack so you fully understand how you can use it to help you and what we want you to do next.

Tick

Action 3: Go home and show your parent/s the following important documents in your Help Pack.

1. Show them the letter at the start of the pack that acknowledges that you are ‘threatened with homelessness’ and setting out the Council’s commitment to help resolve the problem.

The letter sets out the type of help available to resolve the problem and what will happen next such as the details of any appointment to see or speak to them.

2. Shown them the factsheet on your prospects of obtaining an offer of a Council or Housing Association property if they were homeless compared to if you were able to remain living at home for now.

3. Show them the example “Licence agreement” that can be arranged between you and your parent/s setting out the rules and behaviour that you will be expected to follow in order to be given permission to carry on living at home.

4. Show them the example “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement”. It sets out examples of the rules and behaviour that you may be asked to agree and be expected to follow in order to be given permission to carry on living at home.

Tick

44

Action 4: Sit down a soon as possible with your parent/s to talk through the problems at home and what they want you to change

You should try to sit down and speak to your parent’s within 24 hours of receiving your Help Pack to ‘test the water’ on whether they will be willing to carry on living at home and under what conditions. Follow all of the actions set out in your pack for you to all to take and record what happened.

Tick

Action 5: When we have made contact with your parent/s and have worked out a plan to solve the problems at home you will be expected to agree to the reasonable actions for you to take in that plan. For example:

If we are able to persuade your parent/s to let you stay you are likely to have to agree to change your behavior or what you do to contribute to helping around the home.

We may expect you to agree to cooperate with any support we can arrange to help sustain things at home.

Tick

Action 6: Taking the actions set out in the “How to find accommodation pack” we have given you or emailed you

We have given or emailed you a pack to help you to find accommodation to rent. Go through this pack carefully as again we will want to see what you have done when we see you. The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live. We expect you to carefully go through this pack and take the actions set out.

Tick










Tick


Tick

45

If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in the “How to find accommodation help pack” which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need.

You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten.

46




1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

47


Your Housing Problem – You claim that the relatives that you live with want you to leave their home.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to help sort things out at home. This will involve us contacting the relatives you live with to try and find out what solution they may be willing to accept.

2 We will help sort the problems out at home and help you to all to agree and write down the solution in a “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement” between you and your family member, or if they would prefer, we can help put together a written licence agreement where they agree to give you permission to carry on occupying their home in return for following their reasonable rules.

3 We can arrange for mediation help or arrange for a support worker to help sort out the problems at home and reach a solution that can be kept to.

4 If the reason that they may want you to leave is a financial problem at home we can try and find a solution to their financial problem.

5 We will formally write to your relatives with an offer to try and reach an agreement once we are clear on what the problem is at home.

6 We have issued you and your relative a ‘Help Pack’ containing a series of actions we think you should take as soon as possible to try and resolve the problem yourself so you are able to demonstrate to your relatives your commitment to try and find a way of making things work better at their home.

7 If, despite our help, these problems cannot be sorted out we will work with you all to try to help you plan a move into accommodation with other extended family or friends.

If everyone agrees that the long-term solution would be for you to move out we can support any move to accommodation with extended family or friends and may be able to offer some financial help to find somewhere to rent.


48

9 If you have passed the legal tests that require the Council to take a homeless application we will process and assess that application. We will have told you verbally if we have taken a homeless application and what will happen next. Any application will have to look at the reasons why your family wants you to leave.




49




Action 1 - You need to take immediate steps to change anything that is upsetting the family relatives that you live with and to reassure them that there will be no further problems. These are the things you need to do immediately.

For the Housing Options Officer - Where the facts about anything that the person is allegedly doing at home are known you need to bullet point below exactly what the person needs to do to resolve it or stop that behavior. For example set out what they need to do to sort out minor misbehavior, or persistent small problems, or complaints from the family or neighbours.

Tick

Action 2: Carefully read the Help Pack we have given you or emailed you so you know exactly what actions we want you to take

The first thing to do is to carefully read this Help Pack so you fully understand how you can use it to help you and what we want you to do next.

Note: The Pack is written as advice for applicants who live with their parents but the advice and the actions listed are exactly the same where a person lives with their extended family and not a parent.

Tick

Action 3: Go home and show your family the following important documents in your Help Pack.

1. Show them the letter at the start of the pack that acknowledges that you are ‘threatened with homelessness’ and setting out the Council’s commitment to help resolve the problem.

The letter sets out the type of help available to resolve the problem and what will happen next such as the details of any appointment to see or speak to them.

2. Shown them the factsheet on your prospects of obtaining an offer of a Council or Housing Association property if they were homeless compared to if you were able to remain living at home for now.

3. Show them the example “Licence agreement” that can be set up between you and your family setting out the rules and behaviour that you will be expected to follow in order to be given permission to carry on living at home.

4. Show them the example “Promised Behaviour in the Future agreement”. It sets out examples of the rules and behaviour that you may be asked to agree and be expected to follow in order to be given permission to carry on living at their home.

Tick

50

Action 4: Sit down a soon as possible with the relatives that you live with to talk through the problems and what they want you to change

You should try to sit down and speak to your family within 24 hours of receiving your Help Pack to ‘test the water’ on whether they will be willing to carry on living at their home and under what conditions. Follow all of the actions set out in your pack for you to all to take and record what happened

Tick

Action 5: When we have made contact with your family and have worked out a plan to solve the problems at their home you will be expected to agree to the reasonable actions for you to take in that plan. For example:

If we are able to persuade your family to let you stay you are likely to have to agree to change your behavior or what you do to contribute to helping around the home. We may expect you to agree to cooperate with any support we can arrange to help sustain things at home.

Tick

Action 6: Taking the actions set out in the “How to find accommodation help pack” we have given you or emailed you


The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live. We expect you to carefully go through this pack and take the actions set out.

Tick










Tick


Tick

51

If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this “How to find accommodation help pack” which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need.



52




1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

53


Your Housing Problem – You don’t want to carry on living in your home because you say it is unfit or in disrepair.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to investigate and help sort any out the problems in your home.

2 I have or will be taking the following actions to investigate and resolve the problems you have contacted us about:

For the Housing Options Officer to select which action or actions below you have or will take:

I have or will speak to your landlord and to get them to agree to check the property and take any action required.

I will then write to your landlord to request that he undertakes the actions to sort out any problems. If your landlord fails to carry out these actions within [xx] weeks please contact me again.

I have arranged an appointment to speak or see your landlord at your property.

I can confirm that I have contacted the Council’s Private Sector Housing Team/Environmental Health Department who have confirmed that they are actively dealing with your case and have taken the following action to require your landlord to sort out the problems you have told the Council and your landlord about. The actions they are currently taking are:

[List actions and timescales]

I am satisfied that the Private Sector Housing Officer/Environmental Health Officer are aware already of the problems with your home and are taking the required action to remedy these. I am satisfied that these problems do not make it unreasonable for you to continue to occupy your home whilst the actions are taken or in the longer term.

[List actions and timescales]

I can confirm that I have referred your case to the Council’s Private Sector Housing team/Environmental Health Department who will be contacting you in the near future to arrange to visit you at home and assess the state of repair at the property. The Private Sector Housing Officer/Environmental Health Officer will provide you with advice and assistance in relation to the disrepair issues in your home; deal with your landlord to remedy any problems that they may find and will advise the Housing Options team of the extent of any problems you may be facing.

54

3 If the problem cannot be sorted out we can issue you with a “How to find accommodation help pack” so you can look for alternative accommodation,

4 If you have passed the legal tests that require the Council to take a homeless application we will process and assess that application. We will have told you verbally if we have taken a homeless application and what will happen next.

If we agree that these problems are so serious that you cannot continue to live there we will work with you to try and find you somewhere else to live.

5 We have advised you how to apply to the Council’s Housing Register or if you are already registered we have advised you about your prospects and likely waiting time for social housing


6 If following the investigation from the Council we agree there are serious problems of disrepair I will refer your case for an assessment under the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy to see if the level of unfitness and problems in your home would result in additional priority for an offer of a social housing property.

It may not be possible to fully assess this until a council officer has inspected your home and assessed the problems and decided whether the problems can be resolved.


55

THE ACTIONS WE NEED YOU TO TAKE NOWRemember to record how you have carried out each action in the spaces below where it asks you to do so. This is so you will have a record for yourself and to show the Council or any other agencies helping you.


Action 1: You must return to your property whilst the Council takes action to try and resolve the problems.

Do not leave your property whilst action is being taken by the Council to solve the fitness problems at your home.

Should you fail to follow the Council’s advice, leave and then approach the Council for help, the Council will consider carefully the reason(s) why you became homeless, taking into account any advice, or assistance we have made available to you, that could have prevented your homelessness.

You may have made yourself intentionally homeless by leaving and failing to take the advice you have been given and continuing to live in your tenancy whilst action is being taken to resolve any problems.

Tick

Action 2: Reducing any condensation problems

We don’t yet know the full details regarding any problems at your property but often the complaint includes damp.

Most damp problems are caused by condensation. Try to be careful on some of the daily routine tasks that can produce a lot of moisture and lead to condensation. Some ordinary daily activities produce a lot of moisture very quickly.

Take the following actions:

Cover pans and do not leave kettles boiling.

Avoid using paraffin and portable flueless bottled gas heaters as these heaters put a lot of moisture in the air.

Dry washing outdoors on a line, or put it in the bathroom with the door closed and the window open or fan on.

Vent any tumble dryer on the outside, unless it is the self-condensing type. DIY kits are available for this or your landlord should be able to carry out this work.

Keep a small window ajar or a trickle ventilator open when someone is in the room where you think there is damp.

Ventilate kitchens and bathrooms when in use by opening the windows wider.Better still, use a humidistat-controlled electric fan. These come on automatically when the air becomes humid, and are cheap to run.

Tick

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Close the kitchen and bathroom doors when these rooms are in use, even if your kitchen or bathroom has an extractor fan. This will help prevent moisture reaching other rooms, especially bedrooms, which are often colder and more likely to get condensation.

Ventilate cupboards and wardrobes. Avoid putting too many things in them as this stops the air circulating. Where possible, position wardrobes and furniture against internal walls.

Action 3: Get together all the correspondence between you and the landlord or agent and all the paperwork you have been given or sent about the tenancy.

When we see you or next see you we will want to see the following documents so start to get these together now. We will want to see any emails or letters you have received from the landlord or agent and any copies of any you have sent. This is so if your landlord issues you with a notice to end your tenancy following your complaint and any action taken by the Council a court may find that the notice is not valid. Before you come to see us try and write down the dates and details of any contact between you and your landlord or agent about the problem.

Tick

Action 4: Record from today any response to you from your landlord or agent following the Council taking any action to contact them

If the landlord or agent has responded write down here what their response was. Keep copies of any email or letter they have sent back to you as we will want to see them

Tick










Tick


Tick

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If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this “How to find accommodation pack” which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need. You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten

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Your Housing Problem – You don’t want to carry on living in your home because you say it is too overcrowded.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will do everything we can to help reduce the impact on you of the overcrowding. I have or will be taking the following actions to try and resolve the problems caused by the overcrowding at home

2 I will visit, or arrange for another Council officer to visit, your home to check the overcrowding and assess fully the impact it is having on you and your family.

3 Priority under the Council’s Allocation scheme:

For the Housing Options Officer to add one of the following 3 actions

1. I’ve had your case assessed under the Council’s Housing Allocation Policy and you have been granted the following high priority – [Set out Band and likely re-housing times and areas more likely to have appropriate sized properties becoming more frequently available].

Or

2. I will refer your case for an assessment under the Council’s Housing Allocation Policy to see if the level of overcrowding in your home and the impact will make any change to your priority on the Housing Register. It may not be possible to fully assess this until a council officer has inspected your home and assessed the problems and decided whether the problems can be resolved or until we have considered any medical evidence about the impact of the overcrowding on you or a member of your family.

Or

3. If you are not currently on the housing register I will help you to register and have your overcrowding assessed to see if this will give you any priority under the Housing Allocation Policy.

3 We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack” that has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live if you feel you want to try and find a larger home.

This “How to find accommodation help pack” also advises you on the local housing allowance or universal credit maximum rates that may apply to the size of your family and circumstances so you have an idea about the rent you may be able to afford and where you can afford to look for somewhere else to live

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If we agree following any assessment that the impact of the overcrowding is so serious that you cannot continue to live there now or in the near future we will provide you with temporary accommodation or work with you to try and find you somewhere else to live


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Action 1: You must return to your property whilst the Council takes action to try and help resolve the problems.

Do not leave your property whilst action is being taken by the Council to help assess and reduce any impact of the overcrowding.

Should you fail to follow the Council’s advice, leave and then approach the Council for help under the homelessness legislation, the Council will consider carefully the reason(s) why you became homeless, taking into account any advice or assistance made available to you that could have prevented your homelessness.

You may have made yourself intentionally homeless by leaving and failing to take the advice you have been given and waiting to see if the Council’s actions help reduce or resolve the impact of the overcrowding problem.

Tick

Action 3: Practical help and advice to reduce the impact of the overcrowding: I’m happy to undertake a visit to provide practical advice on how to cope better with the overcrowding.

The Housing Options Officer should list the practical things the tenant can do to reduce the impact of the overcrowding. For example:

You say that your property is very cluttered up with things. I know much of the reason for this is the overcrowding but I am happy to work with you to draw up a plan to de-clutter and make best use of space you have got.

It might be best to use the living room at night as an extra bedroom and we can advise you how best to do this.

There may be an opportunity for space saving: installing bunk beds; fold away beds; removing unwanted furniture. We can consider if we can provide any financial help to help you achieve this if it is what you want to do.

Tick

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If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this “How to find accommodation help pack” which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need. You should amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home. We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten

Tick

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Your Housing Problem Your relationship has broken down with the person you live with.

Actions we have

taken


1 We will advise you on your rights and whether or not you can legally carry on living where you are. If we assess that you are at risk of immediate violence or have experienced emotional abuse that is having a serious impact on your health we would not expect you to carry on living where you are.

2 If, despite our advice and offer of help, you would prefer to look for other accommodation we will provide you with practical help and advice so you can try and secure somewhere else to live.

3 Where you are a joint tenant with the person you have broken up with we can offer to speak to your landlord to see if they would be prepared to accept a surrender of your tenancy from both of you so you can both find somewhere else to move to without the worry that you are under a legal contract to stay.

4 Where your ex partner has left and you are worried that you cannot afford to carry on paying the rent we can advise you on how to find someone else to move in a pay the other share of the rent.

5 We have issued you with your “How to find accommodation help pack”.





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Action 1: Get together all the paperwork you have about your where you live.

When we see you or next see you we will want to see your tenancy agreement, or mortgage agreement, so we can work out what your rights are.

Tick

Action 2: Advising you on your possible rights to remain in your home

Whether you are married or living with someone as a couple, if your relationship breaks down, it is important to seek advice before making the decision to leave the home. This is a complex area of the law and you should obtain advice from a solicitor who specialises in family law or an independent housing advisor, Shelter or a Citizens Advice Bureau.

This Personal Housing Plan summarises the housing rights of couples whose relationship breaks down. It explains the accommodation options available in the short term and long term and the actions you can take to resolve your housing problem.

Your rights to remain in the home in the long term will depend on a number of factors:

Who your landlord is.

The type of tenancy agreement.

Whose name the property /tenancy is in.

Whether you are married /civil partners or cohabiting.

Leaving in the short term will not affect your rights to the property.

Staying with a friend or relative to give you time to think things over is ok, but it is important to get advice as quickly as possible.

I have established the tenure/ownership position for the property you occupy.

On the information I have obtained so far I believe that you may be (The officer to tick or highlight which of the following 3 apply)

1. A tenant or a joint tenant of a Council or Housing Association Tenancy.

2. A tenant or joint tenant of a private rented home

3. An owner occupier or joint owner of a property

Tick

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I have checked that there are no reasons why you cannot remain in your home due to domestic abuse or any other reason that would make the accommodation unreasonable to occupy whilst you consider your housing options.

Advice if you are a joint tenant to understand your rights to stay in your home.

As a joint tenant with both names on the tenancy agreement:

You both have a right to remain in the property and you can only be made to leave by a court order.

You can only make your partner leave by getting a court order.

You are both liable for the rent until the tenancy is ended formally, even if you leave the property.

If you remain in the property, or if you leave but your partner remains in the property, the joint tenancy continues until formally ended.

Either party can end the whole tenancy without the other’s consent.

If your partner tries to make you leave, in the short term, you can ask the court to make an ‘occupation order’ - this will state who should live in the property

If the other tenant ends the tenancy by giving legal notice (which they are entitled to do) this will end the tenancy for you too, even if you did not want to move out. If you think your partner might do this you may be able to prevent it – speak to your landlord and explain what is going on and you can apply to the court to arrange for the tenancy to be transferred into your sole name.

You should always get expert advice before giving formal notice to end the tenancy.

In the long term, no matter what relationship you are in it might be possible to voluntarily transfer the tenancy into one name if both of you agree to do this and your landlord is willing to do so. If this is a realistic option you will probably not have to go to court to do this.

It is very important that you use the correct legal method to transfer the tenancy otherwise you might both lose the tenancy completely or still legally be responsible for the tenancy and the rent, even though you have moved out. It is not usually enough just to tell your landlord that one of you is moving out.

If you are a social housing tenant you need to seek help from your housing management officer on your options for surrendering the tenancy and whether you would be allocated any other tenancy in return.I am happy to talk to your housing management officer on your behalf to consider the options here.

If you are an existing private tenant I have considered whether you have a fixed term contract and whether or not it has come to an end and is now a periodic tenancy. If it is a fixed term contract I have checked if there is any break clause in the agreement and if so I have advised you how you can both bring the tenancy to an end using the break clause.

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Remember you will have contractual obligations on a fixed term tenancy for the fixed period you have both agreed to stay.

On a periodic tenancy it has to be ended in the right way. Alternatively, I am willing to talk to your landlord on your behalf to see if he or she is willing to accept the joint surrender of your tenancy early but I cannot do this nor should you until you have other accommodation to go to.

If you were to ignore this advice you could risk being found intentionally homeless.

Advice if you are a joint owner-occupier to understand your rights to stay in your home.

If both your name and your partner’s name are on the deeds or mortgage of the property then you are an owner.

You have a number of rights no matter what sort of relationship you are in.

These rights are yours automatically and they can only be changed by a court order unless you both agree.

These basic rights are:

You and your partner have an equal right to live in the property. This means that neither of you can be made to leave without a court order.

If you or your partner wishes to sell or re-mortgage the property, you both have to agree. If you fail to agree, the property cannot be sold or re-mortgaged without going to court.

If you have a mortgage you will both be liable for payments and you could be asked by your lender to pay the whole amount if your partner stops paying.

If the payments are not made your lender may try to repossess and sell the property.

If your lender sells the property for less than the amount outstanding on your mortgage you and/or partner will have to make up the difference.

If you are having, or likely to have problems paying your mortgage you should seek immediate advice in negotiating with your lender and looking at other options.

In the short term, if you cannot agree who lives in the property you can apply for an ‘occupation order’ from the court.

This will not affect your long-term rights to the property.

In the long term if there remains a dispute over who should stay in the property or whether the property should be sold, you will need specialist legal advice. The courts can make a variety of decisions about the future of your property.

What they decide will depend upon your individual circumstances and whether you are married, cohabiting or have children.

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Advice if you are not the owner or a tenant of the property but are married to the owner or tenant:

This is a complex area of housing law and you should always get legal advice from a solicitor. Family Law legislation may grant matrimonial home rights or other rights for married or civil partners that may mean they cannot be excluded from the property without a court order.

Home rights are available if the couple are married or civil partners. For a co-habitee they only have a right to apply to court to try and secure rights of occupation through an occupation order.

Unmarried couples

If you are not married and your partner is owner or tenant, then you will only be able to remain in the property with their agreement. In the short-term, you may be able to get an ‘occupation order’ from the court to allow you to stay temporarily. Your rights to do this may be strengthened if you have children.

Married couples

If you are married then you both have equal rights to occupy the matrimonial home even if your name is not on the deeds or the tenancy agreement. Neither you nor your partner can be excluded, except by court order.

Even if you are not occupying the home, you can obtain a court order to regain entry and live there. This right remains as long as the marriage (i.e. until the decree absolute) unless extended by the court or the tenancy is terminated.

Applying for an occupation order

Relationship breakdown rights are a specialist area of law and an area where it is best that people receive independent and impartial advice on their options.

You should look to see a specialist solicitor.

A person might wish to seek an occupation order to:

To enforce any existing rights if an ex-partner does not accept that they have rights to the home.

Give new rights if the person does not have an automatic right to the home.

To exclude someone who previously had rights or to restrict how they will use the home.

Most people can apply for an occupation order, including:

Owners, tenants or people with beneficial interest or the spouse/civil partner of an owner, tenant or someone with beneficial interest.

Cohabitees of an owner, tenant or someone with beneficial interest.

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An occupation order could:

Allow the person to stay in the home.

Allow them to return to the home if they have left it.

Set rules so an ex-partner can only uses a certain part of the home.

Or even prevent an ex-partner from entering the home.

You can apply for an occupation order at either the magistrate’s court or the county court. The courts decide will decide on whether to grant an occupation order based on:

Whether the person is married or in a civil partnership.

Whether there are children. Income of each person.

The housing needs of each person and whether either have any alternative place to stay.

Any impact on person’s health, safety or wellbeing.

The actions and behaviour of both of.

Whether the property is rented or owner-occupied

We can let you know the local solicitors that practice family law in this area.

Action 3: Taking the actions set out in the “How to find accommodation pack” we have given you or emailed you

We have given or emailed you a pack to help you to find accommodation to rent.

Go through this pack carefully as again we will want to see what you have done when we see you.

The pack has a lot of practical suggestions and actions for you to take to try and find somewhere else to live.

We expect you to carefully go through this pack and take the actions set out.

Tick

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Tick


If you qualify for the register or are already on the register look at the factsheet in this “How to find accommodation help pack” which sets out where in the area it might be a little bit easier to be offered a Council or Housing Association home and estimated waiting times depending on the size of accommodation you need.


We can advise you of what these areas are if you haven’t already been told or have forgotten

Tick

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This is your Personal Housing Plan explaining the things that can be done to help you.

Your Housing Problem - You have left your home or are at risk of losing your home because of violence, threats of violence or emotional abuse.

Actions we have

taken

The Council have taken the following actions or will take them to try and help you to from becoming homeless.

1 We will advise you on your rights and give you full details on all your housing options (see the section below titled ‘The actions we would like you to consider’). If we assess that you are at risk of immediate violence or have experienced emotional abuse that is having a serious impact on your health we would not expect you to carry on living where you are.

2 Where you are a joint tenant in the private rented sector and not a social housing tenant we can offer to speak to your landlord to see if they would be prepared to accept a surrender of your tenancy if you want to find somewhere else to move to.

3 The Council will take a homelessness application from you. We will process and assess that application and let you know the outcome as soon as possible.

4 We have advised you how to apply to the Council’s Housing Register and can help you with this, or if you are already registered we have advised you about your prospects and likely waiting time for social housing given your new circumstances.


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THE ACTIONS WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO CONSIDER

There is no obligation to follow any option we advise you about below. It may be useful to record the things you have considered in the spaces below where it asks you to do so. This is so you will have a record for yourself and to show the Council or any other agencies helping you.

The options you may want to consider:

We have first set out advice on your options to stay in your home if it can be made safe for you to do so. We have then provided advice on what your options are if you would prefer to move.

This advice is just a summary and we would always advise you to seek help from a solicitor and a specialist support service for victims of domestic violence or abuse.

Option 1: Getting a court order (injunction) if you want to consider staying in your home

There are options if you want to stay in your home, but you should only take that decision after seeking advice and support on whether you would be at risk of violence, abuse or mistreatment if you were to do so.

Getting a court order (injunction)

An injunction is a court order that requires someone to do or not to do something. Your solicitor can apply for you or you can go to the Magistrates Court and ask them for forms to apply. You will need to make a sworn statement known as an “Affidavit” to explain why you want an injunction. Some injunctions can be applied for as an emergency and the other person need not be at court when you apply for an injunction against them. You may have to go to court a second time and this time your opponent will be present to tell their side of the story to the court.

There are two main types of court orders available under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996: Non-molestation orders and Occupation orders.

Court orders are normally for a specified period of time (e.g. six months) but can be renewed; or they may be made ‘until further order’. There is no limit on the length of time that non-molestation orders can be extended.

Occupation orders can only be extended beyond 12 months if you have a legal right to stay in the home (i.e. as owner or co-owner, or tenant/joint tenant, or because you are or have been married to the owner /tenant).

Non-molestation Order - This type of order would be used to tell a person to stop being violent or abusive. You can get a non-molestation order if:

You are, or have been married or cohabiting.

You live or have lived in the same household.

You don’t live in the same property, but you are related or have agreed at some point to marry each other.

You are parents of a child or have legal ‘parental responsibility’. You can also get a non-molestation order for a child.

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You do not have to prove violence to get a non-molestation order. ‘Molestation‘ can cover many forms of behaviour including harassment and pestering. In making a ‘non-molestation order’ the court must consider all circumstances including the need to secure your health, safety and wellbeing or that of a child.Occupation orders

The Family Law Act 1996 introduced orders under which the court may enforce the following:

The applicant’s right to occupy

To allow re-entry to the home

To regulate occupation by both partners

To exclude one from all or part of the home or

To suspend/terminate the right of one partner to occupy.

In making the order, the court must take into account the housing needs and resources of both parties and any children. It also looks at the financial resources and the effect of making or not making the order on the health, safety or well-being of each side and any relevant child and considers whether significant harm will result from either making or not making an order.

The court will only grant an injunction if it believes it is necessary to stop any further harm or violence. If some time has passed and the danger or emergency seems to be over, then the court may see no reason to intervene. So, if you feel you need protection seek legal advice straight away.

Court orders do not guarantee you protection, but can be a deterrent but you need to consider whether this is right for you carefully and take advice. They will only usually be a temporary solution and so you will need to also look at other long–term solutions.

Option 2 – Option of staying in your home and having it made safer to live in.

We call this a ‘Sanctuary Scheme’ or ‘Safe House’ scheme.

The scheme helps victims of domestic abuse to remain in their own accommodation, but only where it is safe for them to do so, where it is their choice and where the perpetrator does not live in the accommodation.

Some victims of domestic abuse wish to consider this option rather than feeling compelled to move, disrupting education, employment and family and support networks and leading to homelessness.

The main feature of the Scheme is to make your home more secure.

Possible help includes extra locks on windows and doors, gated security to the outside of a property, fire hammers, fire blankets or the creation of a safe room in your home where you can go and can call the Police if you feel the person is trying to come into your home.

The Scheme is available across all tenures and would normally be installed free of charge to you using our homeless prevention fund.

Anyone who may be in danger of losing their accommodation as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse or hate crime can qualify for the scheme but it does rely on the cooperation of your landlord to allow extra work to be carried out.

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We will only provide it where it is the clear choice of the victim and where it is safe and appropriate for you to remain in their own accommodation.

It cannot be offered where a perpetrator of abuse continues to live within the home, but may be offered where a person has obtained a long-term court order to remove the perpetrator.

It is only one of the range of options open to those at risk of homelessness due to domestic abuse.

It should be implemented in partnership with a specialist domestic violence service willing to offer you support.

The Scheme can only be provided following a full risk assessment.

It is not possible to install a scheme in a multiple tenancy occupation due to the shared front door. In private tenancies, the permission of the landlord will be needed before any work is undertaken.

If you are interested in our safe house scheme a full risk assessment of your circumstances must be carried out before we can offer the scheme to you. This may involve information obtained from several partner agencies.

Option 3: Respite accommodation with relatives or friends

You could seek rest bite accommodation or accommodation with friends/relatives to enable a planned move into other accommodation. I am willing to speak to any relatives or friends you would like me to speak to if that would help.

Option 4: Options specifically for tenants of a Council or of a Registered Social Landlord only

With your consent I have made your Housing Management Service aware of the situation and I am discussing with them what assistance they may be able to offer you. Being accepted as homeless unfortunately gives no guarantee that you will receive another social housing tenancy, or an offer exactly where you would like to live. Therefore it is important that we make you aware of your options for pursuing your rights as an existing tenant.

Your options are:

You terminating any joint tenancy and granting you a new tenancy for the property you occupy.

You terminating any joint tenancy and granting you a new tenancy through a transfer.

Evicting your violent partner from the tenancy you hold for breach of the tenancy conditions.

Seeking a reciprocal arrangement with another council or RSL to transfer to a social housing tenancy that is in another safer area.

I must stress these are only initial thoughts on what some of the options could be. Your social landlord would not be prepared to offer any option without being satisfied it is justified and appropriate.

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Option 5: Possible high priority through the Council’s social housing allocation scheme

Your case may merit additional priority under the Council’s housing allocations scheme.

Our allocation scheme grants:

1. high priority points or priority banding for domestic abuse cases

or

2. high priority points or banding for exceptional welfare circumstances. I can have your circumstances assessed and will let you know the outcome.

Option 6: The option of moving into a Refuge.

If you want to consider moving into a refuge there are a number of options for accommodation and support. There is a national Women’s Refuge network of safe accommodation across Wales and England and they can also support you to approach a local housing authority in the area where the refuge is placed.

I can ring on your behalf or I can put you in touch straight away with our local domestic abuse service and they can talk through the options with you. We can offer help with travel costs etc.

Option 7: Safety and practical help and support

1. I can put you in touch with the local Woman’s Aid, Refuge or the Domestic Abuse service.

2. We have talked about and helped you to identify family, friends and support groups who might be able to support you through this difficult time.

3. We have discussed whether you have spoken to the police about the abuse and the specialist services they can offer to support victims.

4. I’ve can give you a list of local Family Law Legal Aid solicitors and Shelter’s contact details locally and they can further advise you about your option.

5. If you receive housing benefit I can help you with practical issues regarding Housing Benefit, Change of Circumstances and explore the issue of payment of HB on two properties if relevant.

6. I will consider whether your circumstances should require a referral to MARAC which is a multi agency team to consider such cases.

Option and advice 8: Advice on your longer term tenancy/ownership options

The most important thing now is to make sure you are safe. Once this has happened you can start to think about your longer-term options and the implications for the type of tenancy or ownership rights you may have now.

Whether you are married or living with someone as a couple, if your relationship breaks down, it is important to seek advice about your rights and obligations for the property you own or rent.

This is a complex area of the law and you should obtain advice from a solicitor who specialises in family law or an independent housing advisor, Shelter or a Citizens Advice Bureau.

Leaving in the short term to find a place of safety will not affect your rights regarding the property you have come from but it is important to get advice as quickly as possible.

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I can talk to you about the housing rights and any contractual obligations for the property you have been living in.

Your rights to remain in the home in the long term will depend on a number of factors

Who your landlord is.

The type of tenancy agreement

Whose name the property /tenancy is in.

Whether you are married /civil partners or cohabiting.

Where you are the joint tenant of the property you are in it may be difficult for you to rent another property if:

1. you need help from housing benefit to help pay the rent

or

2. if you have a contractual commitment to the property you are in.

Seeking other accommodation should therefore only be considered once you have received legal advice on your obligations or actions have been taken to end any tenancy or contractual obligation you may have.

Sometimes rent can be paid on 2 properties where a person is a victim of domestic abuse and we can check if this would apply to your case.

Option 9: Apply to go on the Council’s Housing Register to be considered for Council housing if you haven’t already done so. We can help you to do this









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This is your Personal Housing Plan explaining the things that you and the Council need to do to help you find accommodation.

Your Housing Problem - You are homeless and need to find somewhere to live (Single person PHP).


We recently saw you or spoke to you because you have a housing problem and wanted our help. We have carried out an assessment to see how we can best help you. We want to do all we can to help you solve your housing problem and I am pleased to provide you with your Personal Housing Plan (PHP).

This plan sets out the actions we have taken to help you look for accommodation. Importantly the Plan also sets out the actions we think you should take to try and find somewhere to live.

You have been told that it is going to be hard to find accommodation so to help you we have issued you with this “Personal Housing Action Plan” and “How to find accommodation pack”. This plan and pack set out realistic options to give you the best chance of finding somewhere.

To find accommodation to rent in this area is going to be hard. It is difficult to find a room to live in because so many people are ‘chasing them’, pushing up the rents so they are far too high for anyone who may have to rely on benefits to pay all or part of their rent.

You may need to seriously consider looking for accommodation outside of our area to do everything you can to improve your chances of finding somewhere to live.

Your best chance of finding somewhere in this area is through one of these 3 actions:

1. To ask friends or relatives whether you can stay with them for a while.

2. To seek to ‘buddy up’ with a friend to look for a room to share together as between you both you may be able to afford the rent charged.

3. To look for landlords who may be willing to rent a room in their home to you as a lodger.

All 3 options provide your best chance of finding accommodation. Your “How to find accommodation pack” contains information you can show prospective landlords about the advantages to them of letting a room in their home to a lodger.

Do think about our offer to ring any friends or relatives you would like us to in order to explain to them just how difficult it is going to be for you to find accommodation. If they now know how tough it is going to be to find accommodation our call just might make the difference in persuading them to let you stay for a while whilst you look for something else.

Many people believe that if they have a housing problem that might result in them losing their accommodation they will automatically be entitled to a council or housing association home. I’m afraid it isn’t as simple as that anymore given how few become available.

If you were to become homeless and might be in something called priority need we would have a duty to make sure that you have somewhere to stay but not a duty to offer you a Council home.

The single people in priority need are people we assess as being vulnerable using a legal test we have to apply.

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It is also important to let you know that the Council does not have a duty to find everyone accommodation where we think the person’s homelessness has resulted from something they deliberately did. We won’t know if this applies to you until we have been able to fully assess your case to decide if you are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, if you are in priority need, and why you became homeless.

If you were to pass all of the legal tests we have to apply we would look to provide you with temporary accommodation.

Some single people may be offered social housing after a period of time spent in temporary accommodation but we are unable to give much choice over the location of any offer, or estimate accurately how long they would have to wait in temporary accommodation.

However, many more single people will have to be helped to find a room to rent as there are just not enough social housing homes becoming empty.

Please now take time to carefully read your “Personal Housing Action Plan” and start as soon as possible to carry out the actions listed in the plan for you to take as this will give gives you the best chance of not losing your current home or finding something else to live.

Remember to record what you have done in the spaces where it asks you to do so. That way you will have a record for yourself to show the Council or any other agencies.

The actions that the Council have taken and will consider taking are listed at the start of your plan.

We have taken into account what help you would like and any support needs you might have. Where what you would like as a solution cannot be met we will have told you this and why.

If you are not clear on what to do next please read your plan again.

If you are still not unclear you should email us on [email address] and we will be happy to explain anything that you do not understand.

I hope you find your plan helpful

Yours sincerely

[Name]


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Actions we have

taken

The Council have taken or will take the following actions to try and help you to from becoming homeless:

1 We have issued you your ‘How to find accommodation Pack’.

2 We can help you to make a claim for a discretionary housing payment to cover any rent deposit or rent in advance. (This will depend on the type of accommodation you find).

3 We may also be able to offer the landlord a written guarantee against any damage equivalent normally to a figure the same as one month’s rent. The figure would be assessed based on your circumstances.

4 We are willing to ring any friends or relatives you would like us to in order to explain your problem. If they now know how difficult it is going to be to find accommodation to rent in [Name of Council] they may be willing to put you up for a while whilst you look for something else.

5 We provide an accommodation finding service. We would need to discuss any areas you may wish to consider living in. We may then be able to offer you our accommodation finding service if we agree these areas are affordable and realistic for you to look to live in based on your circumstances.

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Also tick to record you have completed each action

ACTION SET 1: DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO TRY TO FIND ACCOMMODATION STAYING WITH RELATIVES OR FRIENDS

(This really is likely to be one of the more realistic options for you to find accommodation)

Action 1. Make a list of all your relatives or friends

To increase your chances of finding somewhere make a list of all your relatives or friends wherever they live

Action 2. Explain to them that you need to find somewhere to live and ask them if you could stay for a while.

Tick

Action 3. Tell any friends that you ask they would be able to charge a rent if they let a room to you.

This is an option only where it is a room in a friends home and not in the home of a relative.

If the friend is on benefits this may affect this – we can advise you on this.

If they are not a relative, and you would have your own room in their home, tell them they would be able to charge rent and, as long as you qualified for benefit to help meet your housing costs, you would be able to pay them the local housing allowance rate set out above.

Tick

Action 4. Ask any friends or relatives if there is anything else you could possibly do around the home to help them.

Think of anything else you could offer to do around the home to help them. This just might make the difference. This could be odd jobs, help with the garden or babysitting.

Tick

Action 5. Make sure you have shown any friends the ‘Lodgers Pack’ we have given you which explain how easy it is for someone to rent a room in their home and explains they would not have to pay any tax on the rent you pay

Tick

Action 6. Think about our offer to ring any friends or relatives you would like Tick83

us to in order to explain your problem.

We are willing to ring any friends or relatives you would like us to in order to explain to them just how difficult it is going to be for you to find accommodation.

If they now know how tough it is going to be to find accommodation our call just might make the difference in persuading them to let you stay for a while whilst you look for something else.

Write down exactly what you have done for this set of actions.


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2.

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4.

5.

ACTION SET 2: LOOK TO FIND A ROOM TO RENT EITHER IN A LANDLORD’S HOME OR IN A SHARED HOUSE

Action 1. Look on the internet

Start your search by looking at the following websites that advertise house shares and homes to rent:

http://www.spareroom.co.uk;

http://loot.com/category/property/rooms-shares/

http://www.rightmove.co.uk;

http://property.adzuna.co.uk/to-rent - (Tip- search for’ DSS accepted’)

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/

DSS Move:

http://www.dssmove.co.uk/

Tick

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http://property.adzuna.co.uk/to-rent

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/


http://www.spareroom.co.uk/

DSS Local

http://www.dsslocal.com/dsslocal/index.html

Action 2. Try to find a friend to ‘buddy up’ with who is also looking for accommodation and willing to share a room.

It might be easier to find a room to share for 2 people than to find a room on your own. Two people may be better able to cover the rent charged for a room in a shared house.

Tick

Action 3. Check notice boards in supermarkets, small shops, newsagents, and libraries.

These often have adverts for rooms to rent put there by landlords

Tick

Action 4. Advertise yourself that you need a room to rent.

The adverts are sometimes free or cost very little.

Tick

Action 5. If you use Facebook or Twitter, or any other social media, let your contacts know you are looking for a place

Tick

Action 6. Ask friends or family to ask people they know or work with if they or anyone else they is willing to rent a room out

Tick

Action 7. If we have been able to give you a list of current landlords and agents please contact them

We are sometimes able to provide in your pack a list of landlords and letting agents who may be wiling to rent to single people who need benefits to pay for some or all of their rent.

However, there are so many people looking for accommodation that these landlords and agents are full and are unable to help.

This position may change. If we currently have a list of landlords or agents we will have told you and put a copy of the list in your accommodation pack.

Tick

Action 8. Check the local newspapers every week.

These often carry details of rooms to rent. Copies of the local free and paid for newspapers are available for you to read at local libraries and these often advertised the properties on their internet pages

Tick

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2.

3.

4.

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ACTION SET 3: HELP TO FIND ACCOMMODATION THROUGH A LOCAL AGENCY OR CHARITY WHO MAY BE ABLE TO HELP

For some single people who are homeless we can make a referral to a local single homeless person charity or to be assessed for supported housing.

Not everyone can be referred to be considered for supported housing as there is not much accommodation available and there are strict rules and criteria.

We have referred you to be assessed for supported housing or a single homeless charity that provides accommodation.

Yes/No

Action 1. If you are contacted by any agency we may have referred you to help, and offered an interview you must respond straight away and attend any interview they make for you

Tick

Action 2. Keep in touch with any other organisations listed in your how to find accommodation pack as they might be able to help you find accommodation.

We support a number of organisations to look for accommodation for single people and these are listed in your pack.

Tick

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2.

3.

4.

5.

ACTION SET 4: APPLY TO GO ON THE COUNCIL’S HOUSING REGISTER IF YOU HAVE AN ADDRESS AND HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO.

Action 1. To register you will need to complete a form on line to apply to ‘go on’ the Council’s Housing Register

We will have explained to you that your chances of getting offered a Council or Housing Association home are very low because of the number of single homeless people wanting the few homes that become vacant. Don’t just register and think that means you will be offered a home as this is very unlikely. You are more likely to have a better chance of finding a room to rent so take the actions set out above.

You can register if you have an address in the Council’s area. If you do not then you can register if you have are able to find somewhere to stay for now with family or friends.

You must register online at [www address]

Tick



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This is your Personal Housing Plan explaining the things that you and the Council need to do to help you find accommodation

Your Housing Problem - You are homeless and need to find somewhere to live (Family PHP)


We recently saw you or spoke to you because you have a housing problem and wanted our help. We have carried out an assessment to see how we can best help you. We want to do all we can to help you so we have issued you with this ‘Personal Housing Action Plan’ and ‘How To Find Accommodation Pack’. This plan and pack set out realistic options to give you the best chance of finding somewhere to live.

We think it is important to tell you the facts about just how difficult it is to find somewhere to live in Name of Council district for families that have to rely on benefits to pay all or some of their rent. We are going to have to work hard together to find somewhere.

Firstly, I’m really sorry, I know how much you and many other families that face homelessness would like to receive an offer of a Council or Housing Association home. This is always the best housing solution and would allow you to settle and plan their future from the security of long-term social housing. However, we are only likely to be able to help a small number of the families who become homeless with a social housing home because so few become empty.

If you were to become homeless and might be in something called priority need we would have a duty to make sure that you have somewhere to stay but not a duty to offer you a Council home. A family is in priority need if they have dependent children. Pregnant woman are also in priority need. It is also important to let you know that the Council does not have a duty to find every family accommodation if we think their homelessness has resulted from something they deliberately did. We won’t know whether we owe you any duty until we have been able to fully assess your case.

We are only able to provide long-term temporary accommodation to families that pass these legal tests. If we did owe you such a duty the temporary accommodation may unfortunately be outside of the district as we are being forced to place families outside because we do not have access to enough local temporary homes. If you were to be placed into temporary accommodation we would look to end our duty by offering a private rented home with a 12 month tenancy. This could take some time to find and again any offer may be outside of our district. We are also not able to give families a lot of choice over where any accommodation would be.

A small number of families are able to bid successfully for an offer of a social housing home (normally a flat or maisonnette) after spending some considerable time in temporary accommodation. However, we are predicting that the number of these successful families will drop considerably due to the number of new families presenting, and the numbers already waiting for a home, compared to the number of homes that become available.

It is therefore really important that you take the actions set out in your “Personal Housing Plan” to look for accommodation in case you become homeless. You need to be realistic about where you can afford to live and don’t just consider places in our district as the rents may be typically £50 plus a week more than you might get in housing benefit or, if you are working, more than you may be able to afford to pay.

If you are realistic and able to find accommodation in an area where you can afford to live we may be able to help if your landlord wants a deposit, or a rent in advance payment.

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We may also be able to offer a landlord an incentive payment if they are willing to rent a property to you.

We think that the best chances of you finding accommodation are:

1. Looking for accommodation in the areas of our district or close by we have told you are best to look in. Here rents may be a little lower and the amount you might receive in housing benefit might be closer to the benefit rent level you might receive and can afford. We can advise you on where to look and we can offer a ‘Personal Accommodation Finding Service’ to help you. There is a leaflet on this service in your pack. Under the scheme we will offer a full assessment interview for you to check exactly where you can afford to live. Once we have checked and agreed that the area is affordable we can seek out accommodation for you as well as helping you to look for somewhere to live in that area.

2. Do think carefully about taking up our offer to contact any relatives or close friends you would like us to in order to explain to them just how difficult it is going to be for you to find accommodation in Name of Council or close by. If they hear directly from the Council how tough it is going to be to find somewhere, our call just might make the difference in persuading them to let you stay with them for a while whilst you look for something else.

I understand how hard it is to hear these facts about how difficult it is to find somewhere.

Please now read through your Personal Housing Plan carefully and as soon as possible start to take the actions listed for you to take. Make sure you record what you have done in for each action where it asks you to do so. If you contact us again we will want to look at what you have done to try and help yourself. If you contact another agency they might want to confirm you were given the Plan and check the things you have already tried.

If you are not clear on what to do next please read your plan again. If you are still not unclear you should email us on email address and we will be happy to explain anything that you do not understand. I hope you find your plan helpful

Yours sincerely

[Name]


89

Actions we have

taken

The Council have taken the following actions reasonable steps to try and help you to find accommodation

1 We have issued you your ‘How to find accommodation Pack’.

2 We can help you if your landlord requires a rent deposit or rent in advance. This may be through helping you to make a claim for a discretionary housing payment to cover any rent deposit or rent in advance, or in some circumstances we may be able to make a payment directly to your landlord or loan you the money where we are satisfied that you cannot afford to cover these costs.

4 We may also be able to offer the landlord a written guarantee against any damage equivalent normally to a figure the same as one month’s rent. If we agree to do so the figure we are willing to offer would be assessed on your circumstances.

5 We are willing to ring any friends or relatives you would like us to in order to explain your problem. If they now know how difficult it is going to be to find accommodation to rent in Name of Council or elsewhere they may be willing to put you up for a while whilst you look for something else.

6 We provide a ‘Personal Accommodation Finding Service’ for families willing to consider looking for somewhere they can afford to live. We can discuss any areas you may wish to consider living in to check if they would be affordable for you.

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ACTION SET 1: DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO TRY TO FIND ACCOMMODATION STAYING WITH RELATIVES OR FRIENDS

(This really is likely to be one of the more realistic options for you to find accommodation especially if you want to live locally)

Action 1. Make a list of all your relatives or friends

To increase your chances of finding somewhere make a list of all your relatives or friends wherever they live

Tick

Action 2. Explain to them that you need to find somewhere to live and ask them if you could stay with them for a while

Tick

Action 3. Tell any friends that you ask they would be able to charge a rent if they let a room or rooms to you

This is an option only where it is a room in a friends home and not in the home of a relative.

If the friend is on benefits this may effect this – we can advise you on this.

If they are not a relative, and you would have your own room or rooms in their home, tell them they would be able to charge rent and, as long as you qualified for benefit to help meet your housing costs, you would be able to pay them the local housing allowance rate set out above.

Tick

Action 4. Ask any friends or relatives if there is anything else you could possibly do around the home to help them

Think of anything else you could offer to do around the home to help them. This just might make the difference. This could be odd jobs, help with the garden or babysitting.

Tick

Action 5. Make sure you have shown any friends the ‘Lodgers Leaflet’ in this pack we have given you. It explains how easy it is for someone to rent a room or rooms in their home and that the rules mean they would not have to pay any tax on any rent they receive up to £7,500 in the financial year.

Tick

Action 6. Think about our offer to ring any friends or relatives you would Tick91

like us to in order to explain your problem.

We are willing to ring any friends or relatives you would like us to in order to explain to them just how difficult it is going to be for you to find accommodation.

If they now know how tough it is going to be to find accommodation our call just might make the difference in persuading them to let you stay for a while whilst you look for something else.



1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

ACTION SET 2: LOOK TO FIND A PLACE TO RENT

Action 1. Look on the internet.

Start your search by looking at the following websites that advertise flats and houses to rent:

http://www.spareroom.co.uk;


http://www.rightmove.co.uk;

http://property.adzuna.co.uk/to-rent - (Tip- search for’ DSS accepted’)


DSS Movehttp://www.dssmove.co.uk/

DSS Localhttp://www.dsslocal.com/dsslocal/index.html

Tick

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http://property.adzuna.co.uk/to-rent

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/


http://www.spareroom.co.uk/

Action 2. Check notice boards in supermarkets, small shops, newsagents, and libraries.

These often have adverts for places to rent put there by landlords

Tick

Action 3. Advertise yourself that you need a place to rent.

The adverts are sometimes free or cost very little.

Tick

Action 4. If you use Facebook or Twitter, or any other social media, let your contacts know you are looking for a place

Tick

Action 5. Ask friends or family to ask people they know or work with if they or anyone else they is willing to rent rooms out, or if they have a property they are willing to rent out.

Tick

Action 6. If we have been able to give you a list of current landlords and agents please contact them.

We are sometimes able to provide in your pack a list of landlords and letting agents who may be willing to rent homes to families who need benefits to pay for some or all of their rent. However, there are so many people looking for accommodation that these landlords and agents are often full and are unable to help so we don’t always issue a list as you would be frustrated to have to ring people up only to be told nothing is available. This position may change. If we currently have a list of landlords or agents we will have told you and put a copy of the list in your accommodation pack.

Tick

Action 7. Check the local newspapers every week.

These often carry details of rooms or flats to rent. Copies of the local free and paid for newspapers are available for you to read at local libraries and these often advertised the properties on their internet pages

Tick



1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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ACTION SET 3: HELP TO FIND ACCOMMODATION THROUGH OUR ACCOMMODATION FINDNG SERVICE

Action 1. Keep to any appointment if our ‘Accommodation Finding Team’ contact you.

We operate an ‘Accommodation Finding Team’ who are constantly looking for private rented accommodation for families.

If they contact you to ask you to attend an interview or viewing make sure that you attend.

You can also email them to check if they have anything on email address.

Tick

Action 2. Attend any interview with our “Personal Accommodation Finding Service”.

We will try to interview all families facing homelessness to discuss with them the areas where they may realistically be able to live. Please attend any interview if we contact you

The interview will look at:

a) The areas where you are more likely to be able to afford to rent

b) Can help you to register for Council Housing list where you may be interested in living and where that Council’s rules allow you to qualify to go onto their register.

Tick

Action 3. Look at the factsheet in this pack giving you details of the areas where it might be a little easier to find accommodation

There is a factsheet in this pack setting out the areas where you may be able to afford to find accommodation to rent.

Tick



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ACTION SET 4: APPLY TO GO ON THE COUNCIL’S HOUSING REGISTER IF YOU HAVE AN ADDRESS AND HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO.

Action 1. To register you will need to complete a form on line to apply to ‘go on’ the Council’s Housing Register

a) If you are not already on the Housing Register you need to complete a form to apply to go on it and you need to be realistic about the areas where you have the best chance of being housed

b) To be on the Housing Register and able to use the [name of choice scheme if CBL you need to register].

c) You can get a copy of the housing application form by [details here if you still operate a paper form system].

d) You can register on-line at [www.xxx - details here].

e) If you need assistance in completing this form, please call/contact – [enter details in here].

f) You can find out more information about how to register on the Council’s website at [www.xxx – put in details here].

g) We will have explained to you that your chances of getting offered a Council or Housing Association home are not good due to the number of families wanting the few homes that become vacant.

Don’t just register and think that means you will be offered a home as this is difficult to obtain an offer.

You are more likely to have a better chance of finding a place to rent so take the actions set out above

Tick

Action 2. Choose realistic areas or amend your areas of choice to improve your chances of being offered a social housing home




Tick

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