Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations

Priority 2: Maximal use of existing housing stock increases the options for people to move to a permanent home

There is a broad suite of tools available to local authorities to balance existing temporary and permanent stock, and ensure households are supported to move on from TA as quickly as possible. This set of recommendations aim to give structure and support to local authorities in terms of using the relevant tools to actively manage housing stock in their area. It also outlines expectations on how they should be used to address affordable housing need, in this instance illustrated by the 'backlog' in TA.

Recommendations

Recommendation 6: All local authorities should provide a Locality Profile outlining needs and demands aligned to their RRTP and undertake refreshed modelling on TA in their area. Local authorities should build this into a refreshed Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan/Prevention of Homelessness approach using national guidance developed by the Scottish Government outlining expectations on the use of tools. Structured reporting to the SHR should be undertaken by local authorities^[20] on how their approach is addressing affordable housing need, including the backlog in TA.

It is also vital that each local authority provides a formal Locality Profile which will help local authorities to clearly self-assess the housing need and homelessness situation in their area. Local authority reports to the SHR should make reference to how they have considered the various tools available including but not limited to those set out below. Not all tools will be appropriate in all localities. The group agreed that to clear the backlog in TA, increased and focused use of these tools might be required in the short to medium term and this should be reflected in guidance in recommendation 7.

Allocations: Local authorities should look to increase the percentage of lets to homeless households for a fixed period to address the backlog of households in TA waiting for a permanent home. This should include an increased and significant contribution from RSLs where appropriate, which should be tracked and assessed via section 5 referral data.

Flipping: Local authorities should consider a large-scale program of flipping TA to permanent accommodation. This is particularly relevant in areas where there are high numbers of households who have been stuck in TA for a long period of time. [see recommendation 7]

Empty homes: Local authorities should look to reduce the numbers of long-term empty properties in their local area and bring these back into use as social homes to permanently house people living in TA. One route for this is through the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders.

The PRS: In some circumstances, the PRS can offer some capacity to meet housing need. It can be an appropriate housing option for some people where rents are not prohibitive and tenants have access to independent advice and advocacy. Local authorities should, where appropriate, consider how they can support people in accessing affordable, secure PRS homes of a good standard.

There was a minority view in the group that the PRS could play an even larger role where conditions allow.

Recommendation 7: The Scottish Government and COSLA should develop national guidance on the tools available for local authorities to actively manage housing stock in their area to ensure maximal use of stock. Guidance on the process of 'flipping' of TA into permanent accommodation in particular should outline the benefits and costs, as well as how to overcome challenges and barriers. Guidance should also cover the components required to ensure flipping is carried out in a rights-based way, with access to independent advice and support for households, ensuring that people are supported and given control to make an informed choice.

Guidance should set expectations with regard to focused use of some of these tools which should be encouraged in the short to medium term by local authorities where there is a backlog in TA.

Recommendation 8: There should be a statutory requirement for each local authority area to have a single common housing register and a single common allocation policy to remove barriers for people in applying for social housing and navigating the system. These processes should be reviewed to ensure equal access particularly for those households who struggle to access these systems, for instance because of digital exclusion, language or literacy barriers.

Until this time, and in line with priority area 3, there is a clear need for more support to be made available for people to navigate the existing complex systems which are disadvantaging households with additional support needs.

There was a minority view that common housing registers and allocation policies should not be mandated because they would have significant resource implications and a long lead-in time.

The evidence we heard

Allocations

(Recommendation 6)

The RRTP analysis and review undertaken by Anna Evans for HARSAG outlined the need at that time (2018) for an increase in allocations of social lets to homeless households to a national average of around 50% – with local needs dictating higher and lower levels of allocations. This was said to be necessary to meet new homelessness demand as well as the backlog of people living in TA within five years. Whilst those figures are now out of date, the principle of the need for a higher allocation rate remains.

Shelter Scotland analysis of official statistics shows that in 2021-22 social landlords let 39% of homes to homeless households. The number of social lets to homeless households varies between local authorities from 15% to over 70% of allocations. A greater proportion of local authority lets were made to homeless households than registered social landlord lets (46% versus 33% of lets).

Some local authorities, including Glasgow, have referenced the challenges they face as a stock transfer authority in securing sufficient allocations to homeless households. Registered social landlords in Glasgow are providing 42% of all lets to homeless households, despite Glasgow City Council asking for 60%.

During the pandemic North Ayrshire Council focused on moving on clients who had been in TA for over 18 months. As a result, they have sped up the journey through TA and successfully reduced the number of people who were homeless for long periods of time. Whilst time in TA was reduced, overall numbers of households in TA increased as the impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis continued.

Perth and Kinross presented their approach to rapid rehousing which included utilising their own modelling tool to reduce their stock of TA (and therefore usage of TA) by reducing demand by increasing their homelessness prevention activity, maximising the usable capacity of their TA stock by minimising length of stay and employing effective void management, flipping tenancies to permanent homes and making changes to their allocation procedures. Tackling the 'queue' in TA was outlined as key to moving towards a rapid rehousing approach.

Flipping

(Recommendation 6, 7)

Perth and Kinross have flipped tenancies from TA into permanent accommodation to address the backlog in the homelessness system. As part of this process, they permitted residents to keep their furniture and white goods, allowing a smooth transition of tenancy. This additional benefit was also highlighted by a survey respondent who underlined the value of being able to keep everything currently in the accommodation when tenancies were flipped.

North Ayrshire take a targeted customer centred approach to flipping tenancies: they flip tenancies on a regular basis when the temporary accommodation meets the need of the household and there is no suitable permanent stock available. They also flip tenancies when the TA has reached the end of its life, which is about five years.

Fife Council are in the process of flipping 650 properties from TA to permanent Scottish Secure Tenancies, at the cost of £1.5 million which will come from the General Fund. The problem the local authority is facing is that only one third of these households are in properties that meet their needs. The other two thirds are in the wrong property, either in terms of location or property type. Fife Council are considering how to meet the needs of these tenants.

Glasgow has made good progress in converting temporary tenancies into settled lets in the context of pressures on the supply of emergency and settled accommodation in their locality, converting 203 temporary furnished flats to settled lets since July 2020. However, the number of flats that can be converted to settled lets is highly dependent on the property being in an area, type and size suitable to meet the occupants housing need. Any flipping also needs to consider the balance between risk and need given the diversity of issues LAs are required to manage. Risk may focus on MAPPA cases^[21] or high-risk offenders including wilful fire raisers, whereas needs may focus on a suitable response disabled people with specific access requirements.

Bidding

(Recommendation 8)

Survey responses from Homeless Network Scotland and Shelter Scotland outlined that choice-based letting systems and the requirement for regular bidding is difficult for people with limited or no access to devices or an internet connection in their TA and that many people stated they felt unable to complete various applications or bid without help and support to do so. Some people are also unaware of their rights and responsibilities around bidding, and on occasions people are given the wrong priority or have had their priority level removed. People can often be unaware of this or unclear on who to approach for advice. Common housing registers were acknowledged as a helpful step to reduce the burden on applicants to apply to multiple landlords and Perth and Kinross outlined their common allocation policy as enabling people to move on more quickly as it streamlines the application and allocation process.