We would like to share with you the journey which our housing team have been on over the past few years, saving over £1 million in the last year and continuing their goal to make a further £7.9 million savings over the next 3yrs, all while managing continued demand on the service and maintaining a high level of support and duty to vulnerable residents of Shropshire.
Due to the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis affecting residents across Shropshire, the number of households going into financial and emotional crisis and relying on temporary accommodation has been enormous.
We have seen numbers as high as 330 households at any one time being placed into temporary accommodation and numbers as high as 220 households being accommodated into bed and breakfast accommodation across the county and surrounding areas. The cost of bed and breakfast accommodation has been up to £3.2 million a year.
Cheaper prices
To achieve these huge savings, over the past 12 months the temporary accommodation team have been negotiating with many local landlords and encouraged them to cut their nightly costs by more than half; with some landlords even agreeing to change the use of their accommodation from B&B into a hostel setting, enabling the service to achieve even further savings.
Working as one team
The whole service has worked hard to streamline the customer journey from first point of call, placements into temporary accommodation, receiving intense housing support, engaging with registered housing providers and social services while working tirelessly on the customer’s homeless case to ensure the most appropriate informed decisions are made, ensuring customers move on from temporary accommodation efficiently.
As a result of this ongoing hard work, numbers in bed and breakfast accommodation have decreased to as low as 98 in recent months, while nationally the use of temporary accommodation is on the increase, proving the commitment and dedication of our housing team.
And how are we going to make the proposed further savings? As well as continuing to improve working relations with registered providers across the county creating a better customer journey and preventative work, the service has a multitude of exciting projects for 2024.
New TA projects
Housing services have been awarded multi-million-pound grants from external funding to utilise Shropshire Council stock and develop property into intense housing support facilities for those at risk of homelessness who require support in becoming tenancy ready and achieving successful moves into independent living within the community. The service is currently working on 4 projects which will create over 100 self-contained temporary accommodation units throughout Shropshire, so we will no longer depend on bed and breakfast accommodation, making savings of £8 million in the next 3 years.
New system upgrades
The team is also busy preparing for new system upgrades, streamlining their workflow to improve the service and the customer journey; implementing a new risk assessment platform, appointments system and customer portal, as well as a new allocations process improving the ability to manage rents, service charges and making the process more efficient and time affective. The system upgrade will also be introducing a supporting people portal, enabling the housing support team and floating support to gain structure in their daily role and improve reporting and compliance within the service. This will also improve communications across services when customers move on from temporary accommodation who are still requiring housing support.
The rough sleeper team will also be condensing multiple systems and gaining one platform enabling staff to manage administration more effectively and creating more time in providing crucial outreach work.
Peter’s story
There is no better way than demonstrating the positive outcomes of the work of the housing team, than through the experiences of those they support. At the age of 62, Peter found himself in a difficult situation. He had been working in the Asia as an engineer, but due to the lockdown, he was unable to return to Britain. While in Asia, he underwent a cataract operation that left him mostly blind in both eyes. Peter eventually returned to Britain to stay with his sister and receive care, but it was not a suitable long-term solution as his sister was in breach of her tenancy, so he had to move out. He had no access to his own money or benefits and relied on others for transport. He contacted us for help in October 2023.
Peter faced many challenges while in temporary accommodation. He required extra support to read and complete paperwork and found it exhausting and frustrating to rely on others for support. However, with the help of his housing support officer, Christine, Peter was able to overcome these challenges. Christine had several calls with adult social care, who Peter had previously contacted for help, and organised a joint meeting to reassess Peter's needs. Christine helped Peter complete a HomePoint application and bid weekly for him. She also organised hospital transport for Peter and helped him link with RNIB for additional specialist support and to the job centre to gain access to funds.
Eventually, Peter was offered a bungalow in Broseley with Shropshire Towns and Rural (STAR) Housing in January 2024. Christine helped him complete all the pre-tenancy forms and even drove him to view the property. Peter was happy with the home and excited to have his own place again, closer to his family. He underwent an operation on his eyes and regained some sight in one eye.
Another positive update is that Peter is now a volunteer for STAR and participates in tenant groups and boards, which has boosted his autonomy and enhanced his wellbeing. Peter now has a bus pass which has enabled him to travel more and his partially regained sight – has allowed Peter to go out and enjoy day trips to Ludlow.