Reduce text sizeIncrease text sizeDefault coloursImproved contrastHigh contrastHousing Action, working alongside private sector landlords, operates a thriving ‘Guaranteed voidless letting scheme’, bringing empty homes back into use for some of the most vulnerable people in Suffolk and Norfolk.
The key to Housing Action’s success has been their foresight to put housing central to the needs of their clients, with other support services being ‘wrapped around’. This has provided the individual and family with a safe and secure environment in which they can start to live independently.
Housing Action is a social enterprise working across Suffolk and Norfolk in the East of England, supporting and housing both individuals and families most in need. It is pioneering a number of innovative and cost effective ways of bringing empty homes back into use.
It was established in 1987 by a group of local people, including a vicar and social worker, who were concerned about rough sleepers in the local area. Armed with a grant of £2,000 from Crisis and the Nat West bank, and run by a group of volunteers, the charity initially gave advice and provided an outreach service to people who were sleeping rough, particularly under places like Felixstowe pier.
Through the work of the charity they uncovered that homelessness was a bigger issue than had first been understood. Housing Action approached their local MP, at the time John Gummer, who was also the Secretary of State for the Environment, and were awarded a Section 180 grant. Further funding followed via the Countryside Agency to set up a rural project and the charity continued to provide support to the homeless across Suffolk and Norfolk.
Over time it became clear to the charity that providing an advice service and lodgings’ register could not, on its own, solve their clients’ needs. Housing Action worked with the most vulnerable people with the most difficult social issues, including mental health, ex-offenders, substance misuses, alcoholics and drug users. There was too great a risk of things breaking down and it was proving very difficult to get anybody into social housing. The charity explored how they could work with the private sector to provide social housing to the individuals and families they were working with and utilise empty properties in the area.
Housing Action knew there were a number of properties that landlords were finding hard to let so they approached a small group of them and developed a model leasing landlord’s properties for 6 months and subletting to their client group. The model worked and over the last 12 years Housing Action has continued to develop and refine their model providing affordable housing for its clients and secured rent for local landlords.
The model proved to Housing Action and private landlords that there was a strong social and economic business case to work in partnership. In the words of Housing Action they had started on the road to creating the 'third housing economy' bridging the gap between social and private rented housing.
Starting with a grant of £2,000 from Crisis and the Nat West bank, Housing Action has gone from being a charity run by local volunteers giving advice and running a lodgings’ register to a social enterprise employing 16 specialised support workers delivering focused support to individuals and families, and is on the road to pioneering innovative and cost effective ways of bringing empty homes back into use.
Housing Action’s main priority is to support individuals and families so that they can live independently in affordable housing. They pursue three simple objectives, get people into housing, get people into housing and work and reduce the number of empty homes. Working proactively across Suffolk and Norfolk the Enterprise is realistically focused on bringing 10 empty homes back into use and refurbishing a further 10 properties each year.
When Housing Action, along with private sector landlords first developed their model, known today as the ‘Guaranteed voidless letting scheme’, it was based on a bespoke commercial lease, in which landlords were paid six months in advance. Operating on an ‘advance’ meant that Housing Action were continually seeking State grants to run projects and valuable time was given to securing future funding which could otherwise be spent on supporting more vulnerable individuals and families. In the last six months Housing Action has moved most of its landlords across to receiving in ‘arrears’ payments which means that the social enterprise can, over time, move away from a reliance on future State funding.
How the scheme works is that it gives landlords a guarantee of rent and no voids. The landlord continues to be responsible for the structural fabric of their building but Housing Action maintains the decorative order of the property and guarantees the rent and tenancy every month. The social enterprise is working towards a self-sustaining model and by growing the number of tenants to 650 over the next two years they hope to reach breakeven.
Over the years the key to Housing Action’s success with their clients has been the foresight to put housing central to their needs, with other support services being ‘wrapped around’ once they have their own home. This provides a safe and secure environment in which the individual or family can start to live independently. This approach has lots of similarities with ‘Housing First’, a project founded by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in New York in 1992
Housing action is currently working on a number of projects to bring empty homes back into use, working in partnership with agencies, local authorities and with investors. One scheme involves identifying empty homes, either through local intelligence, provided by the 16 strong locally-based Housing Action team who cover Suffolk and Norfolk, or through local authority partners. Recently they have recuited a retired surveyor as a volunteer to actively search out empty homes and who owns them.
The empty properties are acquired – through leases or purchase through a range of options, including compulsory purchase and brought back into use. Investment is secured through private investors who wish to own a ‘buy to let’ property with the knowledge that over the years they will make a small return on their investment but a bigger social return. A range of properties are being pursued, including redundant hotels and office blocks. The process has been slow in getting started due to the issues involved in identifying empty properties and the time needed to establish their suitability for the scheme.
Refurbishing empty properties has become part of Housing Action’s activities. They realised early on that bringing an empty home back into use would provide vital employment and skills for its clients as part of their move towards independency. Although they are unable at this stage to accredit the training and skills that clients acquire they are developing a process where they will be able to in the future. The medium term plans are to operate, as part of the social enterprise, a building and maintenance refurbishment company. Work is currently underway with three prisons across Suffolk and Norfolk to produce a double glazing line. One prison will make the units, another will specialise in developing the glazing and the Housing Action building and maintenance team will install the units. The double glazing will be installed in empty properties and help to overcome thermal insulation problems.
The difference with Housing Action is their relationship with private landlords. Their social lettings agency markets directly to landlords from the landlord’s perspective. Their marketing does not mention the end tenant but instead focuses on the business return. The arrangement is that Housing Action is the tenant and in return the landlord gets a decent return on their money and guaranteed occupancy. They have established an arrangement with local councils that they will provide private landlords, as part of the Councils proactive support to bring empty homes back into use, with Housing Action’s leaflet.
Housing Action over the last 12 months has been running an empty homes project on behalf of the National Treatment Agency. Receiving a £140,000 grant they have focused on bringing empty properties back into use across Suffolk. Employing a full time worker they have supported prospective tenants from persistent, prolific offenders with substance misuse backgrounds, most in their 30’s who have spent more than half their life in institutions, and to date brought five empty properties back into use. Although the project funding has come to an end Housing Action is continuing the work and are hopeful that the legacy of the project will lead to housing a further 15 individuals.
The costs incurred by Housing Action in bringing empty properties back into use vary dependent on the state of each individual property, in some instances it can cost from £7,000 to £35,000, based on a light or heavy refurbishment works. Plans to refurbish one property and convert it into three flats is anticipated to cost £25,000 - £35,000. Each property brought to the attention of Housing Action is judged on a case by case basis and reliant on a strong financial business case. As a social enterprise they operate a ‘total cost recovery’ model to cover their costs incurred in running the business and to provide finance to fund future growth.
The strength of the social enterprise is that they can act quickly. They worked with one private landlord who had inherited a property which was in a state of disrepair and was facing an enforcement notice. A local estate agent had suggested that they contact Housing Action. In the space of four weeks the landlord had signed a lease and loan agreement with Housing Action, the property was refurbished and four flats were brought back into use housing five clients. This speed of response has attracted four local councils who are now setting aside £10,000 - £20,000 which Housing Action can borrow to return empty properties back into use in each of their respective council areas.
Over the last 20 years Housing action, in its pursuit to bring empty homes back into use and provide safe housing for the most vulnerable in society, has faced numerous barriers. These have not distracted the charity from their three simple objectives and their boldness, calculated risk taking, ‘can do’ attitude and business acumen have benefitted some of the most vulnerable people in Suffolk and Norfolk.
Over the last 20 years Housing Action has brought a host of benefits to the individuals and families they have supported and worked with. The key auditable aspects of Housing Action’s work is its homeless prevention and homeless solving. Fundamentally providing a safe, secure and affordable home where a family or individual can develop independently.
The ‘wrap around’ support which clients receive is managed by Housing Action. A support worker takes responsibility for dealing with all the other Agencies and organisations by calling and co-ordinating case meetings. This means that individuals and families get the right support and early intervention they need fitted around their housing need.
During a year Housing Action is approached by 500 - 600 people in severe and dire straits. They have been able to house annually between 30 – 60 individuals. Future plans are to house up to 1,200 individuals.
For its clients the social enterprise has provided:
Two of Housing Action's tenants said:
“Have spent most of my life in prison never had the chance of own home now I have one to cherish. The support Housing Action has given means I have been out of trouble 18 months "Longest in my Life" Thank You”
“I can truly say that if it was not for HOUSING ACTION I would not be here. Out of all the support which I have had from many organisations, it was HOUSING ACTION who helped me out. Not only with finding a home but they continued with support to get my life back on track. Thanks for all the care and support.”
They have 300 properties registered under the ‘Guaranteed voidless letting scheme’ and are working towards 650 tenanted properties by 2013 which will provide a self-sustaining model. The target for the number of empty homes stands at 10 and 10 refurbished properties each year.
Housing Action is currently working up a pilot project with University College Suffolk on a ‘test case’ to measure their social impact, providing them with a ‘solid audit’ trail. The current measures used for assessing social impact include looking at an individual’s circumstances over time. For example, a tenant with a past high ‘rate of arrest’ is monitored on their number of arrests. In one case an individual has had no arrests since being housed with Housing Action.
Asked why Housing Action was successful, Jim Overbury, CEO, summed it up as:
“We don’t have to go to sub committees about this or that, compliance about this, and making sure that it ticks all those boxes. We’ve got very, very simple objectives. Go out there and do it, find the empty homes, get a quote for it, do the sums, get the job done. It’s not rocket science; it’s just about rolling up your selves and doing it. Being in the right area, being on the ground, knowing the area, talking to landlords”
One of Housing Action’s partner’s, Bob Prince, Head of Strategic Housing and Tenant Services
Waveney and Suffolk Coastal District Councils, said:
“Housing Action is a charity that gets stuck in at the sharp end and delivers great results through creative solutions, where others just talk.”
Housing Action has grown from a small charity run by volunteers to a social enterprise with a reputation for providing innovative and cost effective solutions to bringing empty homes back into use and housing the most vulnerable. They have:
Jim Overbury
Chief Executive
Housing Action, 43 High Street, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1AJ.
01728 604739
Jim.Overbury@housingaction.co.uk
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