Edinburgh's Local Housing Strategy
Chapter Four - Prevent and Respond to Homelessness
This chapter covers preventing homelessness; temporary accommodation; supporting people to access settled accommodation and reducing the number of people sleeping rough.
These are the proposed strategic objectives:
- Prevent homelessness wherever possible
- Where temporary accommodation is required, this will meet the needs of the household
- Support people to access settled accommodation as quickly as possible
- Reduce the number of people sleeping rough
Read the high-level actions we propose to take
- Develop new ways to intervene earlier to prevent homelessness.
- Develop ways to publicise homelessness prevention activity and ensure people know how to access it.
- Develop pathways for vulnerable groups.
- Youth Homelessness Prevention including the development of a Youth Housing Hub.
- Develop pathways to avoid homelessness at key transition points such as leaving hospital or prison.
- Continued development of the Keys and a Kit Programme.
- Change mix of temporary accommodation.
- Ensuring we use our stock more effectively.
- Explore the possibility to flip temporary accommodation, if and when stock levels allow.
- Develop Mid-market rent (MMR) as an option for homeless households.
- Continue to increase the supply of long-term supported accommodation services.
- Continue to provide Rapid Access Accommodation.
- Establish a year-round Welcome Centre.
- In line with the Housing Emergency Action Plan, continue to identify and support opportunities for Social Investment Funding.
- Ensure full data on homelessness demographics.
- Work in Partnership with H&SCP.
- Work in Partnership with Children Services.
- Explore removing duplication and develop a plan to ensure information on service availability is more easily available.
- Investigate the impact of tourism on temporary accommodation.
- Deliver pre tenancy support to homeless households.
- Continue to develop options to prevent homelessness in the first place including using data to target interventions.
- Assess the link between children in unsuitable accommodation and the impact on their education with the change in schools they attend.
- Continue to work with RSL partners to maximise lets to homeless households.
- Develop a plan to increase the supply of Short-term Let accommodation.
- Develop a plan to increase the supply of Private Sector Leasing (PSL) accommodation.
- Plan to proactively identify and increase reach of prevention services.
- Develop a plan to increase the supply of supported accommodation.
- Develop a plan to support those who find a gap between their rent charge and their housing benefit income.
- Community based and home-based support services are increasingly important to support people with mental health issues which affects homelessness presentations if not maintained or improved upon.
- How will we provide mental and physical tenancy support throughout the tenancy journey of homelessness and ensure tenancy sustainment’s are reinforced.
- Ensure that the Council and partners are prepared to respond to Prevention Legal Duties.
- Continue delivery of the Housing First model.