Housing Strategy

Priority 2 - Work to Ensure Homelessness is Prevented, Brief, Rare and Unrepeated

What the evidence says

recent impact of Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis has exacerbated the pressure faced by local households’

 

‘……local households are unable to access affordable housing…’

 

‘…..risk of increasing levels of homelessness within the county, with significant pressure extending to homelessness services’

 

‘….in recent years the proportion of households in urgent ‘need’ of housing has increased’

 

‘…a greater proportion of lettings by Pembrokeshire County Council and its Registered Social partners going to households in the highest bandings of need….’

 

‘…….significant increase in the use of bed and breakfast and hostel accommodation’

 

‘…the need for temporary accommodation………imposes both staffing and financial resource pressures on the council’

 

‘…increased numbers of households to which a final s75 duty to provide temporary accommodation is owed…’

 

‘…whilst there were 76 people temporarily housed in March 2019 the number had grown to 654 by May 2023…’

 

‘……significant shift in the proportion of offers going to households who are owed the full homelessness duty…’

 

‘…….Welsh Government remains committed to the ‘no-one left out’ policy approach aligned with the Rapid Re-housing strategy’

 

Summary analysis

The evidence outlined illustrates the very significant challenges that have faced front-line homelessness and housing advice services in Pembrokeshire over recent years including dealing with increasing levels of homelessness and unprecedented demand for temporary accommodation. Alongside this, the demand for social housing has seen significant growth in the Choice-Based Lettings housing register, accompanied by a reduction in the number of lettings becoming available. Pembrokeshire has responded proactively to the conflict in Ukraine, with 400 people dispersed to host families and other accommodation with support from a dedicated support team. At the same time efforts are underway by to locate suitable accommodation to house an expected allocation of asylum seekers by Welsh Government by December 2023.

Whilst the scale of the challenge was amplified significantly by the impacts of Covid-19 the evidence indicates that pressures on these services were already increasing prior to the pandemic. Changes in the housing market linked to the factors described in this strategy have contributed to a housing market that has become increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for a significant proportion of Pembrokeshire’s population. The added pressures of conflict in Ukraine, changes to the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 and a cost of living crisis are amongst a number of factors that have amplified the already significant impacts of Covid-19. Furthermore, the rise in interest rates within the last 12 months have directly increased housing costs for many households on the margins of sustaining their accommodation.

Whilst increasing the supply of affordable housing is a key priority in this housing strategy, the likely timescales for achieving a marked rebalancing of the housing market do not have the prospect providing rapid relief to the pressures on homelessness and housing advice services nor the costs associated with meeting the council’s statutory obligations around temporary accommodation provision. The significant costs incurred in providing temporary accommodation are not sustainable in the long term and whilst they are supported by significant grants from Welsh Government there is no guarantee how long these will continue.  Similarly, the extent or timing of any economic upturn or reduction in interest rates represent further uncertainties in the shorter term that imply continuing pressures on households at risk of homelessness. Addressing the significant challenge of high levels of homelessness is therefore a key priority for the council.

Furthermore, in line with the WG ambitions to End Homelessness, a White Paper has been launched in October 2023.

Our approach

Our approach will be in line with Welsh Government’s strategic approach to ending homelessness.

Over recent years Welsh Government has published a number of key policy statements that have described the ambition to prevent and address homelessness in Wales and set out the direction they wish to see local authority homelessness services taking in meeting that ambition. The Strategy for Preventing and Ending Homelessness, published in October 2019 pre-dated the Covid-19 pandemic but its key messages and policy principles were picked up and further developed within The Ending Homelessness in Wales - High Level Action Plan 2021-26 taking into account the learning from the pandemic and the recommendations of the expert Homelessness Task and Finish Group.

The High Level Action Plan highlights the Programme for Government commitment to two key actions which will be critical to ending homelessness. Firstly, through a commitment to fundamentally reform homelessness services to focus on prevention and rapid rehousing and building 20,000 new low carbon social homes for rent. Pembrokeshire’s Housing Strategy includes a commitment to an ambitious programme of affordable housing development alongside which we will also transform our homelessness services towards prevention and the principles of Rapid Rehousing.

Rapid re-housing is a housing-led approach to homelessness that recognises the negative impact of homelessness on families and individuals and in particular seeks to address the marginalising and destabilising effects, when homeless, of prolonged stays in emergency and/or temporary accommodation arrangements.

Welsh Government’s High Level Action Plan sets out fundamental changes to the systems and processes that prevent homelessness, with a focus on early preventative actions across public services and confirming the transformational shift expected of local authorities towards Rapid Rehousing. It proposes a radical shift so most cases of homelessness are prevented with the expectation that if anyone does experience homelessness they will be provided with quick respite, making that experience brief, with support allowing people to access suitable, long-term and stable homes so that homelessness is no longer repeated. The strategy is clear that preventing homelessness a cross-sector priority relevant to health, social services, education, criminal justice, community services and our wider economy and sets out an expectation that public services will work together in delivering homelessness prevention. The strategy repeats a number of principles from the 2019 strategy that underpin Welsh Government’s approach to homelessness prevention which are expected to guide the work of all services involved in the delivery of homelessness services:

  • The earliest preventions are most effective and most cost effective and should always be the interventions of first choice.
  • Tackling and preventing homelessness is a public services matter – rather than only a ‘housing matter’.
  • All services should place the individual at the centre and work together in a trauma informed way.
  • The duties in Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 should be the last line of defence – not the first - and all services should work to the spirit not simply the letter of the law.
  • Policy, service delivery and practice should be informed and shaped in a co-productive manner and by those with lived experience.

In setting out the roadmap towards achieving the transformational shift in approach towards rapid re-housing the high level Action Plan sets out a series of actions that will need to be undertaken by all the agencies connected with homelessness, including Welsh Government. Some of the actions are specific to Welsh Government but many are specific to local authorities and their partners. Those actions, together with our own priorities for action, such as those set out in Pembrokeshire’s Rapid Re-housing Plan 2022-2027 and the Housing Support Programme (HSP) Strategy 2022-2026 will form the basis of our approach towards achieving the Council’s ambition that ‘homelessness is prevented, brief, rare and unrepeated’, a priority that reflects the commitment set out in the Programme for the Administration and Welsh Government’s High Level Action Plan 2021-26. Delivery of the transformation set out in our Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan will take significant effort and resources, much of which has yet to be scoped in detail and the plan is clear that whilst the span of the plan may allow the foundations for Rapid Rehousing, full implementation will be a longer term project. 

Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 places a statutory duty on each local authority in Wales to carry out a homelessness review and formulate a homelessness strategy. A homelessness strategy, under section 50 of the Act, is a strategy for achieving the following objectives in the local housing authority’s area:

  • The prevention of homelessness
  • That suitable accommodation is and will be available for people who are or may become homeless
  • That satisfactory support is available for people who are or may become homeless.

Key achievements 

  • We have developed a Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2022-2027 to set out our plans to deliver a housing-led approach to tackling homelessness
  • We are nearing completion of the review of the Choice-Homes Allocation Policy to ensure our policies for accessing social housing support are fair and appropriate in the context of local housing needs.

Our priority actions

  • P2.1     Deliver the priorities set out in Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2022-2027
  • P2.2     Ensure Pembrokeshire continues to maximise access to Welsh Government’s emergency and transitional funding to support the move towards Rapid Rehousing
  • P2.3     Develop a workforce training plan for Homelessness and Housing Advice staffing and enable access to training developed by Welsh Government in support of the transition towards Rapid Rehousing
  • P2.4     Implement the Strategic Priorities set out within the Housing Support Programme HSP Strategy 2022-26 which strengthen the capacity and capability of housing-related support services to deliver outcomes in support of rapid rehousing
  • P2.5     Develop improved systems for multi-agency co-operation particularly on the identification of young people at risk of homelessness
  • P2.6     Develop an approach to monitoring and evaluating the transformation of towards Rapid Rehousing and for making recommendations for improvement.

The scale of the challenge in transforming homelessness services from the current position cannot be overstated bearing in mind the wide ranging external influences that impact on the national and local economy, the scale of temporary accommodation in use presently together with the capacity constraints of the council and its partners.

Challenges to delivery

  • Ongoing cost of living crisis and high interest rates create risks around the ability of households to cover housing costs increasing the risk of homelessness
  • Timescales for delivering large scale development of new affordable housing and low turnover rates in social housing create difficulties for moving households into settled accommodation.
  • Ongoing higher house prices continuing to prevent new households requiring re-housing to enter the housing market thereby increasing risks around homelessness
  • Backlog of housing demand in the housing register will take time to clear and for some households in need create little or no chance of housing.
  • The limited capacity in the private rented sector currently to support efforts at rehousing households in temporary accommodation due to landlords leaving the private rented sector
  • Capacity within the Housing Advice teams to manage demand whilst delivering significant transformational change
  • Capacity of Social Housing Grant to cover the support costs associated with more assertive and intensive support for homelessness prevention alongside the need for generalised low level housing support.
  • Ongoing impact of Covid-19 which significantly increased the scale of challenge we have to face in terms of repaid rehousing and has increased the vulnerability of many residents who spent a prolonged period in lockdown.

Detailing the actions

P2.1     Deliver the priorities set out in Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2022-2027

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan includes a Vision and 6 key priorities which have been set in achieving the successful implementation of Rapid Rehousing. The priorities can be summarised to the following 4 priorities set out in Section 7 of the plan under Resource Planning:

Priority 1        Increasing the supply of affordable housing

This element of the plan also forms a key priority of the Housing Strategy 2024-29 and the Council has identified an ambitious forward development programme for affordable housing alongside the Council’s RSL partners leading to an indicative programme of circa 700 new dwellings to 2028/29. We have also set out funding arrangements to support new property acquisitions, turn-key developments, empty homes investment and funding to support the leasing of private rented housing through Leasing Scheme Wales. Throughout our delivery of new housing we will need to keep in mind the need for approaches which support our strategy to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation and reduce our reliance on unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation.

Priority 2        Homelessness Prevention

The plan identifies the need to refer those in need of housing related support to the Gateway streamlined assessment process which will be rolled out to all housing support providers. Access to the Northgate system will be enabled for the Housing Support Grant team and there will be awareness raising undertaken to ensure people understand the support available across commissioned and non-commissioned support services. 

Priority 3        Tenancy Sustainment

The promotion and facilitating of tenancy support will be prioritised to people in need through the Gateway to ensure the right support is in place before and during their tenancy where necessary. We will also seek to identify a way of securing tenancy ready packs to overcome the problems normally associated with moving people into unfurnished accommodation in the private rented sector

Priority 4        Reduce the number in temporary accommodation

In setting out this priority the plan recognises that it will likely take longer than the five-year timescale of the transition plan to significant reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation. Furthermore, the plan identifies the significant additional financial burden Pembrokeshire County Council would face in meeting Bed and Breakfast accommodation costs in the event current levels of funding from Welsh Government through e.g. Covid Hardship funding, were reduced or ceased. The plan also identifies the comparatively low levels of HSG funding received by the council by comparison to neighbouring authorities. Taken together these risks will need to be managed during the course of the transition plan, however, Welsh Government’s High Level Action plan implies ongoing support for emergency arrangements during the transition period.

To deliver against this action we will utilise funding from General Fund, WG Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP) and Social Housing Grant to:
  • P2.1.1 Complete the review of the Choice Homes Choice Based Lettings Allocations Policy ensuring that the allocations scheme supports the delivery of Rapid Rehousing objectives including meeting statutory rehousing duties and enabling the rehousing of households in temporary accommodation. (Year 1)
  • P2.1.2 In the planning of new housing units delivered through our combined forward development programme and our wider housing enabling programme we will ensure we take into account the need for improved provision of temporary accommodation to support a rapid reduction in the use of bed and breakfast accommodation. (Year 1-3)
  • P2.1.3 Ensure that Homelessness Prevention is a core aspect of our homelessness service including ensuring the roll-out of Gateway to all housing support providers and the enabling of access to the Northgate system to the Housing Support Grants team. (Year 1-2)
  • P2.1.4 Ensure that tenancy sustainment is a core aspect of our homelessness service by ensuring that the right support is in place at the right time for those who need it. We will also seek suitable arrangements for supporting households into unfurnished accommodation through the use of tenancy ready packs and other initiatives. (Year 1-2)
  • P2.1.5 Undertake a review of all temporary accommodation to ensure any phased reduction leaves a residual stock that meets our operational needs and supports the phasing out of the use of B+B accommodation. (Year 1-2)
  • P2.1.6 Engage with RSL partners to determine the scope for increasing their role in the provision of a suitable supply of temporary accommodation. (Year 1-2)

P2.2     Ensure Pembrokeshire continues to maximise access to Welsh Government funding to support the move towards Rapid Rehousing

Pembrokeshire Council receives significant additional grant funding from Welsh Government to support homelessness accommodation and other costs, much of which is in response to the additional costs associated with responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. As at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2022/23 we had received over £1.6m including Covid hardship funding and additional housing support grant. Whilst it is hoped that funding arrangements will continue we need to ensure we maximise the award of any additional funding towards delivering the transition towards Rapid Rehousing, including maximising Housing Support Grant. 

To deliver against this action we will utilise WG No-One Left Out Grant, WG Homeless Prevention Grant, PCC General Fund, Discretionary Housing Payment, WG TACP to:

 P2.2.1  Ensure the development of a costed plan for the transition towards Rapid Rehousing to support the development of evidence-based funding bids to potential discretionary funding pots established by Welsh Government including Spend to Save initiatives that could form the basis for internal corporate funding opportunities. (Year 1-2)

P2.3 Develop a workforce training plan for Homelessness and Housing Advice staffing and enable access to training developed by Welsh Government in support of the transition towards Rapid Rehousing

The High Level Action Plan includes a commitment by Welsh Government to commission work to develop, with partners, a workforce recruitment, training and development framework for homelessness and housing support staff. This recognises the importance of ensuring local authority housing teams are equipped with the right skills to deliver prevention focused services and the Rapid Rehousing approach. 

To deliver against this action we will utilise WG Homeless Prevention Grant, PCC General Fund to: 
  • P2.3.1  Ensure that annual review and development processes for staff includes an assessment of their training needs together with engaging with Welsh Government to ensure we maximise opportunities for training courses established in support of Rapid Rehousing and Homelessness Prevention. (Year 1)
  • P2.3.1  Implement the recommendations from the HSP Needs assessment relating to the need for mandatory training for all staff in social care specifically on the Housing Act 2014 to ensure awareness of duties of the local authority in relation to a person’s housing needs. (Year 1-2)

P2.4 Implement the Strategic Priorities set out within the Housing Support Programme HSP Strategy 2022-26 which strengthen the capacity and capability of housing-related support services to deliver outcomes in support of rapid rehousing

The Housing Support Programme Strategy 2022-26 identifies a number of key Strategic Priorities for action that will directly support the effectiveness of housing related support services in addressing the transformational challenge facing homelessness services in Pembrokeshire. These centre around early intervention, specialised support to prevent homelessness and ensuring access to the most appropriate accommodation as part of the Rapid Re-Housing approach. These include measures which support key need groups including mental health and substance misuse, young people and addressing demand in relation to Violence against Women, Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence. Importantly, they also address some of the key recommendations set out in Welsh Government’s High Level Action Plan relating to maximising the effectiveness of housing support services. Each of the Strategic Priorities carry a number of actions which are set out within the HSP 2022-26.

To deliver against this action we will utilise Housing Support Grant (HSG) funding to:
  • P2.4.1  Strengthen early intervention and prevention services and specialised support to prevent homelessness delivered through the HSP Programme. (Year 1-3)
  • P2.4.2  Ensure people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness access the right home at the right time and in the right place as part of our Rapid Response approach, for instance through developing a Housing First Model for more people with complex needs as set out in the HSP Strategy.(Year 1-3)
  • P2.4.3  Work collaboratively across all agencies to provide holistic, person-centred support with effective specialist interventions where necessary. (Year 1-3)
  • P2.4.4  Implement the recommendations from page 25 of the HSP Needs Assessment which promote good practice and improve outcomes for individuals and families experiencing housing difficulties. (Year 1)

P2.5 Develop improved systems for multi-agency co-operation, particularly on the identification of young people at risk of homelessness

The Ending Homelessness in Wales – A high level action plan 2021-26 highlights the need for Local authorities to strengthen systems for identifying young people at risk of homelessness much earlier. Whilst the corporate parenting role of social services authorities will often ensure the focussing of resources around homelessness prevention around Care Leavers, the de-stabilizing and long term impacts of homelessness are significant for all young people. Ensuring suitable support is put in place for those identified will mean building referral pathways across a number of agencies including education, welfare and the voluntary sector to ensure young people at risk of homelessness are identified and supported appropriately.

To deliver against this action we will: 
  • P2.5.1  Engage with relevant partners in contact with young people including third sector organisations to raise awareness and develop referral pathways which support the early identification, intervention and targeting of homelessness prevention measures for young people 

P2.6 Develop an approach to monitoring and evaluating our progress in the transformation of our services towards Rapid Rehousing and for making recommendations for improvement. 

The Pembrokeshire Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan as well as Welsh Government’s High Level Action Plan make it clear that the transformation of homelessness services in Pembrokeshire towards the Rapid Rehousing model will be a significant challenge that will take a number of years to achieve. The high numbers in temporary accommodation aligned with the challenges in Pembrokeshire’s housing market and ongoing economic factors inevitably means that services will need to continue to respond to high levels of demand for homelessness advice services alongside making the transformational change required. It is therefore important that we agree an approach through which the Rapid Rehousing Plan is monitored to ensure organisational and political oversight and to enable recommendations to be made on addressing challenges and making improvements.

To deliver against this action we will:
  • P2.6.1  Establish a high level project delivery plan with targets which reflect progress towards the key transformational aspects of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan, including the reduction in temporary accommodation costs and use and establish a working group, including, member representation, to support the implementation of the project plan, monitor progress and to make recommendations in support of successful delivery.
ID: 11686, revised 07/01/2025
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