Mansfield District Council has been chosen as one of three organisations in England to lead a two-year project to improve how temporary accommodation is used to house people who are homeless.
The council, leading on behalf of seven housing authorities in Nottinghamshire, will be testing new approaches to helping families in a variety of temporary accommodation (TA) settings across the county.
It was selected for the £128,000 in funding out of 58 applicants to the Justlife Foundation, a national charity identifying ways to provide long-term solutions to homelessness and advocating for people living in TA. The two other “Testing Hubs” selected are in Bristol and London.
Justlife is hoping the project will lead to improvements in the way housing authorities nationally use TA to address homelessness and improvements in the support offered to people in it.
Across Nottinghamshire, councils’ use of TA is rising and the need for improvements in how councils address homelessness has been driven by research which shows that many families in TA experience severe and multiple disadvantages.
Cllr Anne Callaghan, Portfolio Holder for Housing, explained: “We know that when people are placed in temporary accommodation, it can adversely affect families in a variety of ways.
“Although stays in TA may be short, the disruption to children's education, health and family stability is severe. Families are often moved multiple times, sometimes with no notice.
“This has negative impacts on both the mental and physical health of both children and adults. And it can exacerbate any financial problems a family may be experiencing or place them in debt due to delays and problems in receiving adequate state benefits.
“However, we hope this project will show how a more focussed and systematic approach to placing families in temporary accommodation, combined with improved support for families, can make being placed in TA less stressful and problematic for both adults and children.
“We are very proud to have been selected for this project in what was a very competitive application process and it is testament to the consistently pioneering approaches this district has developed to help people who find themselves with nowhere to live.”
Simon Gale, CEO of Justlife, said: “We are delighted to be working with Mansfield District Council as one of our national Testing Hubs. By joining up existing housing, health, education and community support, this pilot will improve everyday life for families in temporary accommodation and create a scalable model for the future. Together we can ensure temporary accommodation is short, safe and healthy for everyone who needs it.”
Mansfield has been selected to lead on this project on behalf of the Nottinghamshire districts because of the innovative projects it already operates in the district.
These include providing a scheme to provide cots and child safety equipment to vulnerable families, smoking cessation support, cook-and-eat sessions, and housing-led liaison with schools to reduce disruption for families in TA.
The council also has the benefits of its own temporary accommodation flats which offer more stable housing and an on-site support team. The units are currently undergoing a £1.5 million refurbishment to improve both self-contained living accommodation as well as communal and outdoor facilities.
The three hubs will be developing models of good practice which can be replicated across the country. In Mansfield, the project will also feed into plans for the new unitary authorities under local government reorganisation plans.
The Mansfield hub will work across all TA settings across the county including B&Bs, and hostels. It will also involve families in less visible TA such as people staying with friends or family, in asylum seeker accommodation, and in refuges.
Among the practices it wants to trial are:
- A notification system for GPs, schools and health visitors when a family enters TA
- Making access to existing support networks such as education, health, benefits, safeguarding more consistent across the county for families in TA
- Improvements to temporary accommodation, allowing families access to child safety equipment, cots and somewhere for children to play
- Ensuring access to benefits is more thorough, quicker and seamless to reduce TA-linked debt traps.