Get me to the CAB in time
The two district councils of South Bucks and Chiltern are partnering with Citizens Advice Bureau and a local young homeless charity. They are providing debt management advice and helping young, previously homeless people become tenants through a specialist support worker.
Two councils in Buckinghamshire have teamed up to offer debt advice and practical support to people at risk of becoming homeless. South Bucks and Chiltern District Councils were successful in their joint bid for funding from Round 2 of the Enhanced Housing Options (EHO) programme.
EHO is about tackling the root causes of housing need by enabling housing authorities to offer more than just housing advice. Worklessness, skills and benefits are also on the agenda for clients who approach the service with housing problems.
The programme, which is run by Communities and Local Government, has been a welcome tool for councils looking to develop their housing advice services.
Complex debt advice
In the case of South Bucks and Chiltern, a grant of £196,000 over two years has paved the way for two initiatives that would not have been possible otherwise.
The first part of the project is funding for a debt adviser at the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) which is housed in the South Bucks council offices. This CAB branch did not previously have a specific debt adviser, and the project provides 14 hours a week of advice.
This resource is being used to help people with complex debt problems: they may be behind on payments for credit cards, catalogues and utility bills, and in arrears with their mortgage or rent. The debt adviser can provide support as they begin to tackle their debt problems.
Support for young tenants
The second element of the EHO grant is funding a floating support worker employed through Padstones. This is a local charity providing advice and support for young, previously homeless people. It offers practical help and support as clients settle down into a tenancy - helping them to get used to paying bills, shopping for food and so on.
Over time, the service will be developed to provide family mediation and outreach work in schools and colleges. Here, the emphasis will be on prevention - telling young people not to expect that the ‘grass will be greener' if they leave the family home.
Preventing problems from escalating
Councillor Jennifer Woolveridge is Portfolio Holder for Health and Housing at South Bucks District Council, and supported the bid for funding from the outset.
"We are very aware of the financial situation that a lot of people are finding themselves in. We are so pleased we managed to get this funding before people really started to feel the effects of the credit crunch."
Councillor Woolveridge says the support is helping two distinct groups of local residents. The CAB service is working with vulnerable people to prevent problems from escalating into crises, while the floating support worker is "ensuring that these young people start life on an equal footing to everyone else."
Providing a range of options
Sean Hughes, Housing Strategy Manager at South Bucks, says both projects link in with the council's housing strategy and its prevention agenda.
"When people approach the housing team we should be able to give them a variety of options. It's all about prevention - and a debt adviser is an important tool for us."
Another partnership project now underway in Buckinghamshire is the launch of choice-based lettings. All four district councils - South Bucks, Chiltern, Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe - are working together to provide more choice for social housing tenants.
Contact
Sean Hughes, Housing Strategy Manager
South Bucks District Council
email: [email protected]
Published in July 2009.