(a)

homelessness had been rising in the City since 2010 and was expected to rise further given the exceptionally challenging economic and housing market environment;

(b)

in 2013/14 14,737 customers approached the Housing Options service asking for support in relation to their housing (a 40 per cent increase on the previous year – approximately 56 households every day);

(c)

1,252 of those households were case-worked by a specialist housing advisor, 592 (42 per cent) of which went on to make statutory homeless approaches and 278 of which Plymouth City Council accepted a statutory duty to house;

(d)

so far this year, homelessness approaches were up 14 per cent and homelessness acceptances up 33 per cent;

(e)

prevention work carried out last year meant that 892 households did not become homeless.  This year a target of 1,000 households had been set, with 505 having been achieved in the first six months;

(f)

the rising number of households in temporary accommodation continues to be a major concern and there was considerable overspend in relation to the Bed and Breakfast / Emergency Accommodation budget –

·         at the end of last year there were 109 households in temporary accommodation;

·         at the end of the last quarter (September) there were 126;

(g)

93 families with children were briefly accommodated in Bed and Breakfast accommodation at some point in 2013/14 and were moved into leased houses within three weeks;

(h)

in the first six months of this year, 80 families had been accommodated in Bed and Breakfasts at some point;

(i)

with major welfare and social policy changes already impacting on people’s accessibility and affordability of housing, it was expected that the introduction of Universal Credits in 2015 would further exacerbate the situation.  People on benefits will not be used to receiving one monthly payment and may find managing their money difficult.  This had led to tenant evictions in some of the Universal Credit pilot areas.

(j)

the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had advised that there would be an accelerated roll-out of Universal Credits.  Whilst the complete programme would be rolled out in phases over two to three years, Plymouth should expect the first tranche during early 2015, targeting single claimants who are working/fit to look for work, the effects from which should be evident next autumn/winter;

(k)

whilst Plymouth would only be dealing with single claimants in the first tranche, should a claimant move to Plymouth from another area where Universal Credit was already in place their Universal Credit would move with them, regardless of what category claimant they were.  This had already happened in Plymouth;

(l)

Plymouth had been successful at intervention work and constant review of the Emergency Welfare Fund has meant that it had been possible to identify areas to shift underspends to in order to provide support where it was most effective and needed;

(m)

good working relations with partners such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and credit unions had meant that once referred a person can be assessed quickly and their benefit entitlements identified and processed, minimising unnecessary claims;

(n)

one of the biggest groups to be affected by Universal Credits was those in social housing and Plymouth Community Homes (PCH), who had 80 per cent of the City’s social housing, was very concerned.  The Council had been working with PCH and its tenants around these changes and it had been quite alarming how many people were unaware and didn’t know what they would need to do in order to make their claims;

(o)

the Council did work with private sector landlords and was doing its best to get the Universal Credit message out there.  However, private sector landlords didn’t tend to be part of any association and therefore contact was generally made on an individual basis.  There was already an aversion in the private sector to taking in tenants on benefits so care needed to be taken to avoid setting any further alarm bells ringing;

(p)

with a large number of student-specific style accommodation being built in the City, some estate agents were seeing more accommodation which had previously been occupied by students, coming back onto the market.  Whilst it would take some time for a clearer picture of this to build, the Council would welcome early conversations with landlords as it would consider taking any surplus into its temporary accommodation portfolio in order to ease pressure on its use of Bed and Breakfast accommodation;

(q)

the exploitation of vulnerable people was another concern and, whilst the majority of single homeless people would not be in the first tranche to receive Universal Credit, conversations had already commenced with adult social care, commissioners and partners to identify their need for support when universal credit is implemented;

(r)

Universal Credit only covered the big “eight” benefits so this would not include care leavers, however, housing benefit was one and if a care leaver had been entitled to housing benefit then this benefit would transfer through Universal Credit;

(s)

there were many reasons why people slept rough, including substance abuse, anti-social behaviour and mental health.  In Plymouth there was currently a cohort of 13 rough sleepers and, like many cities, it had adopted the ‘no second night out’ scheme which meant that no-one should have to spend two consecutive nights sleeping rough.