Arun Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024 - 2029
Contents
- Executive summary
- Forward
- Vision
- Links to other strategies
- How we have developed the strategy
- About Arun
- Homelessness in Arun
- Why are people becoming homeless?
- Rough sleeping in Arun
- Impact of interventions
- Temporary accommodation
- Strategic priorities
- Action plan
1. Executive summary
1.1 We want Arun to be a better place to live, work and visit, and deliver great public services. Arun is a thriving district, consisting of Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and the South Downs National Park. Whilst the district is relatively affluent, access to high paying work is more difficult here than in other parts of the county, and local housing is increasingly unaffordable to rent or buy.
1.2 Homelessness in Arun is in line with the regional and national picture, though we are finding it harder to prevent families, in particular, from becoming homeless. Rough sleeping is rising slowly but is a concern for the health and wellbeing of some of our most vulnerable citizens.
1.3 Our vision is to prevent homelessness wherever possible, and where it is not, to ensure it is rare, brief and non-recurring.
1.4 We have engaged with a wide range of statutory and voluntary sector partners to develop this homelessness and rough sleeping strategy, and looked at how our services are performing in terms of preventing and relieving homelessness and rough sleeping and where these could improve.
1.5 What we have learned is that it is becoming harder to find sustainable, long term housing solutions for people who are homeless, and evictions from private rented accommodation are a major factor in causing homelessness in Arun along with family/friends being no longer able to accommodate, and domestic abuse.
1.6 However, we have a wide range of committed partners to work with us across statutory and voluntary sector services in the district and at county level. We have more work to do to build on relationships, particularly with private and social sector landlords to increase supply and strengthen housing delivery in Arun. Our current approach has been validated by a recent review of private rented sector liaison schemes in West Sussex, with our approach cited as is the most successful.
1.7 The key themes of our strategy are:
- to prevent homelessness wherever possible
- to develop long term solutions within our housing market to help us respond to the housing needs of people living in Arun
- to build on the partnerships we have to ensure an effective response
2. Foreward
2.1 (A statement from the lead councillor/Chair of Housing and Wellbeing Committee, to be written by the ADC communications team and signed off by the councillor)
3. Vision
3.1 Our overall vision is to make Arun a better place to live, work and visit, as well as delivering great public services. Our vision as set out in this strategy is to prevent homelessness wherever possible and to:
3.2 Make homelessness rare: we will do everything we can to make sure homelessness is prevented from happening in the first place, making it a rare occurrence.
3.3 Make homelessness brief: When homelessness does occur, we will make sure that people and families are quickly connected to housing and other support.
3.4 Make homelessness non-recurring: Where homelessness cannot be prevented, we will find a long term solution, so that people and families do not experience multiple episodes of homelessness.
3.5 We know that we cannot achieve this vision alone. We will need to work in partnership with a range of partners, both from the voluntary sector (including Turning Tides, Stone Pillow, Bognor Housing Trust, Citizens Advice Bureau and others) and statutory sector partners including Sussex Health and Care, West Sussex County Council, Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust and HM Prison and Probation Service.
3.6 We already have good working relationships, but to tackle the increasing challenges of homelessness we need to work more closely together to address the presenting and underlying issues that lead to homelessness. We also need to work together to find new solutions and to support people to sustain their housing.
4. Links to other strategies
4.1 In our Council Vision 2022 – 2026, we set out our core ambition of making Arun a better place to live, work and visit as well as delivering public services. The four themes of the Vision are wellbeing, housing, the environment, and the economy. Relevant to this Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy are the commitments to:
- develop and implement a Wellbeing Strategy
- support the voluntary and community sectors to provide services that help the most vulnerable in our community
- provide a mixed housing economy within the district for all, regardless of age or circumstances, where different types of homes are available, and people can choose to rent or buy
- support those in our community that most need help, providing a safety net where necessary and working with people and organisations to meet different needs
- support households with complex needs to secure suitable accommodation
- maximise the delivery of affordable housing including utilising our own resources and commercial expertise to ensure that our social housing is energy efficient
4.2 Colleagues at West Sussex County Council are also in the process of reviewing the supported housing they commission, and we will work with them to help ensure it meets the needs of vulnerable Arun residents who require it.
4.3 Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, Brighton and Hove City Council, West Sussex County Council and East Sussex County Council developed a pan-Sussex strategy for Domestic Abuse Accommodation and Support, domestic abuse is a key contributor to homelessness in Arun. The guiding statement for the strategy is: “Whoever you are, wherever you live and whatever the abuse you face, you will have access to the services you need to be safe.”
4.4 While a number of gaps were identified by the strategy for West Sussex it also considers:
- how to address gaps in specialist accommodation and other accommodation options
- the provision of community based support including the availability of in-person assessments for housing and support services
- training for all staff on a trauma-informed approach
- awareness training on marginalised groups including people with No Recourse to Public Funds
- we will work with our partners to ensure that people experiencing domestic abuse in Arun are helped
5. How we have developed the strategy
5.1 In line with the requirements of the Housing Act 2002 we conducted a review of data available on homelessness and rough sleeping in Arun.
5.2 We used a wide range of data sources to develop a Homelessness Review report in April 2024. Data reviewed included Homelessness Case Level Collection (HCLIC) data and Delta data on rough sleeping submitted to DLUHC and referral/casework data from council officers and from homelessness and other charities operating in Arun.
5.3 The Homelessness Review report has informed the priorities set out in this strategy, and we have developed this draft strategy based on a broad range of inputs, including:
- a review of relevant strategies and documents from across the council and other partners including West Sussex County Council, NHS and Homes England.
- engagement with people who are currently homeless or in temporary accommodation, including attending the homelessness hubs in Littlehampton and Bognor Regis, sitting in homelessness assessment interviews (both pre-booked and homeless tonight),
- meetings with clients from the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) team.
- two workshops attended by 16 stakeholders from across the statutory and voluntary sectors.
- interviews with over 20 stakeholders, including representatives from both Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and other statutory and voluntary sector partners.
- ‘horizon scanning’ to identify the potential impact of events unfolding across economics, politics, legislation and the wider housing and local government sectors.
- analysis of data relating to housing, homelessness and rough sleeping and Arun’s population from a range of sources, including council service data and the Office of National Statistics (ONS), as well as data reported to the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLHUC).
5.4 These activities have helped to develop a picture of homelessness in Arun, as well as to identify the priorities and concerns of our partners, and people’s experiences of homelessness
6. About Arun
6.1 Between the last two censuses (held in 2011 and 2021), the population of Arun increased by 10.3%, from around 149,000 in 2011 to around 164,900 in 2021. This is a greater increase than the overall population of the South East region (7.5% increase) and England as a whole (6.6% increase)[1]. The population is increasingly older; the median age increased from 47 to 49 years of age.
6.2 Unemployment in Arun for people of working age is 2.2%, lower than the 2.8% in 2011, well below the England average of 4.2%. A further 3.6% were economically inactive due to long term sickness/disability, a slight increase from 3.2% in 2011. The rate of people who are economically active is 87%, higher than the average for the South East (81.7%) and 78.8% for the country as a whole[2].
6.3 Gross weekly pay in Arun is £561, lower than the average for both the country as a whole (£682.60) and the South East (£723.50). The rate of receipt of Universal Credit is 3.4%, slightly lower than the national average of 3.9% but higher than the regional average of 3.0%. Jobs density (that is, the ratio of total jobs to population aged 16-64) is 0.65 for Arun, lower than the density for the South East and country as a whole (both at 0.87).
6.4 Rates of home ownership are higher than the national average at 72.4% (national average 63.2%), private rented sector accommodation is 18.3% and social rented property is 9.3%. This is significantly lower than the South East (13.6%) and England (17.1%) average, though the number of households in affordable housing has increased by 15.1% since 2011 (the highest rate of growth amongst comparator authorities). Over the ten years from 2011 to 2021, Private renting in Arun increased from 15.3% to 18.2%, while the rate of home ownership decreased from 73.8% to 71.2% The rate of home ownership has decreased between 2011 and 2021 with reductions in Littlehampton (-3%) and Bognor Regis (-2.7%). The high proportion of private rented sector properties in Arun points to issues of affordability of homes for people to buy and the lack of availability of social rented dwellings. Arun has a total of 5.3% vacant homes, this is a higher rate of vacant homes when compared to regional neighbours (4.5% of which are vacant properties and 0.8% are second homes).
6.5 A recent review of the availability of affordable private rented accommodation shows that just 8% of the available properties were affordable on the local housing allowance rate for Chichester LHA and 5% at the Worthing LHA rate. If these households had rent ‘top ups’ of 12.5%, the homes available for private rent would increase to 29% of the available market at the Chichester rate and increase to 19% of homes available for private rent for households in receipt of the Worthing rate.
6.6 Whilst Arun as a whole is not a significantly deprived local authority area, some postcode areas in Littlehampton and Bognor Regis are in the top 10% of LSOAs (Lower Statistical Output Areas) in the country. One additional indicator of households at high risk of poverty and homelessness is fuel poverty: in Arun, 7.2% of households are assessed as being in fuel poverty, however there are pockets where this is significantly higher (River ward in Littlehampton is 12.3% and Beach ward is 12.5%, and Orchard and Pevensey wards on Bognor Regis both at 12%).
6.7 There is a wide range of services in Arun, given the size of the locality, with direct access homelessness hubs in both Littlehampton and Bognor for people who are rough sleeping or vulnerably housed. This is supplemented by a wide range of Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI) services, including tenancy sustainment, outreach, resettlement and emergency accommodation. For families and other people not experiencing immediate rooflessness, the Housing Options teams provides face to face appointment based and walk-in appointments five days a week from council offices.
6.8 There is a broad range of temporary accommodation for families and single people, and the council offers interventions including negotiation with private sector landlords, assistance with advice and guidance, and can provide repayable or granted rent deposits and rent in advance. Over the last year in our work with private landlords, we showed a consistent upward trajectory, with a peak of 83 properties signed up in 2023-24, demonstrating sustained growth in participation. The flexibility of our private rented sector (PRS) scheme appears to be a significant driver behind the success in acquiring properties over the past four years. With a tailored and flexible approach on a property-by-property basis, we have been able to adapt to needs of landlords and tenants. This is the most successful approach in the West Sussex council area.
6.9 Officers work in close partnership with a wide range of partners. These include the voluntary sector (the largest of which are Stone Pillow, Turning Tides and Bognor Housing Trust). It also includes statutory services including Childrens and Adult Social Care, and Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust.
6.10 Services provided across the district include:
6.10.1 A joint post working with Sussex Partnership NHS FT and Arun District Council to work in the community trying to stabilise the home situation of people receiving secondary mental health services, and thus prevent hospital admissions. This post aims to address the large proportion of duty cases with some form of mental health support need.
6.10.2 A domestic violence specialist. This is via an arrangement with WORTHH Services, the local Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) [CP1] provider and involves attending Housing Options one day per week to advise and assist on solutions for Domestic Violence related cases. This post aims to tackle what the council has recognised is a rise in the rate of homeless duty cases owing to domestic abuse.
6.10.3 Two dedicated posts at Citizen’s Advice which aim to provide debt and benefits advice for people referred through Housing Options. This is funded in full by Arun District Council’s Housing Options team.
6.10.4 Local Registered Providers also provide tenancy sustainment services.
6.10.5 RSI funded services in Arun include:
- 2 x In-house Outreach Workers
- 1 x In-house Target Priority Group Navigator
- 1 x In-house accommodation Sustainment and Move-on Officer.
- 2 x External Support Navigator (1 focussing on non-UK nationals
- 2 x External Tenancy Sustainment Officer
- x External Support, Employment and Skills Officer
6.10.6 There are 91 units of supported accommodation for homeless people, including six units of domestic abuse refuge accommodation and 56 bedspaces for people with mental health issues, 43 beds for people with substance misuse and 18 for people with dual diagnosis. In addition, there are 183 units of exempt accommodation providing additional support to people who have been recently homeless.
6.11 The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 came into force on 29 August 2023. The Act sets out to introduce changes to how supported exempt accommodation is regulated. Local authorities must carry out a review of supported exempt accommodation in their area and following this publish a supported housing strategy. The review must include the authority's assessment of the supported exempt accommodation available in its area and the expected needs for this accommodation in the next five years.
6.12 The government will publish regulations stating the date by which local authorities must comply with this requirement. Local housing authorities and social services departments must have regard to the Supported Housing Strategy once it has been published. Arun District Council will therefore need to develop a Supported Housing Strategy within the next two years and this has been included within the action plan for the strategy.
6.13 The government also intends to progress with a Renters Rights Bill with the aim of giving greater protections to private renters. The Bill will include ending of Section 21 ‘No Fault’ evictions, reforming the grounds for possession and applying a revised Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s law to the private rented sector, as well as strengthening councils enforcement powers.
6.14 The government is additionally aiming to introduce reforms to the planning system to accelerate house building and infrastructure delivery and a bill to bolster leaseholders rights. There are also plans to reform National Planning Policy and to reintroduce mandatory housing targets for local housing authorities including Arun, based on a new standard method for assessing housing needs and a new definition of ‘Greybelt’ land with the aim of releasing additional land for housing development.
6.15 Arun will respond to the new requirements in a way that can support the delivery of this homelessness and rough sleeping strategy. We will aim to use the new expectations to deliver the homes needed as well as improve the quality and availability of existing homes.
6.16 Stakeholders from partner agencies report back positively about the way the Housing and Homelessness teams in the council work, and their persistence in preventing and relieving homelessness in partnership. However, we believe that there are some gaps, particularly in accommodation for people with complex and multiple needs, and for people fleeing domestic abuse.
Key facts
The population of Arun, whilst doing well in many respects, has some risk factors which may increase the risk of homelessness in particular locations within the district, specifically in Littlehampton and Bognor Regis. These include higher levels of deprivation and poverty, including fuel poverty, alongside overall lower levels of pay and poorer access to jobs.
The council provides a wide range of services for people who are facing homelessness and rough sleeping and officers work closely in partnership with other organisations to address these issues in the district. This gives a good basis from which to address the gaps identified in this strategy.
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E07000224/
[2] https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157340/report.aspx
7. Homelessness in Arun
7.1 The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 introduced two new duties that may be owed when a homelessness application is taken. These are the prevention duty, and the relief duty, defined by s.195(2) and s.189B(2) of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended). In both duties the council must take ‘reasonable steps’ to assist the applicant to secure accommodation.
7.2 When the prevention duty is owed, the council must first explore whether applicants can be supported to retain their homes, where suitable. If this is not possible, help is given to secure alternative accommodation in a planned way. The relief duty is owed to applicants who are already homeless, and the council must help secure suitable accommodation.
7.3 The reasonable steps that the Council will take in performance of both duties is agreed in a ‘Personal Housing Plan’ alongside actions an applicant may take themselves, or any partner agencies will take. The plan must be centred around the assessment of the households housing circumstances, support needs, and housing needs.
7.4 Between 2020/21 and the end of quarter three 2023/24 there have been 3,488 homeless applications in Arun. 3,093 (89%) of these applications resulted in a duty being accepted.
Figure 7.1. Single and Family homeless duty cases in Arun, 2020/21-2023/24*[3]
7.5 The total number of duty cases for quarters 1 to 3 of 2023/24 stands at 919. When projecting the figures for a full financial year, the number of duty cases is estimated at 1,082, representing a 10% increase since 2021/22. For single households this increase is more pronounced at 18%, whilst family household duty cases have risen relatively slower at 5%.
7.6 On average between 2021/22 and 2023/24, 67% of duty cases are single person households and 33% are families. Analysis of the 2022/23 financial year shows that Arun had a duty case rate of 15.9 per thousand households. This is lower than the national average and the average of the nominated DLUHC comparator authorities, but slightly higher than the regional average[4][5].
7.7 These headline figures indicate that homelessness is on the rise for all household types, but that the demand from single households is both larger and faster-growing.
7.8 The majority of duty applicants in 2022/23 were White British (82%), followed by 12% who were of any other white background such as Eastern European. Minoritised ethnic groups account for a very small proportion of duty applicants in Arun at just 5%.
7.9 The largest minoritised ethnic groups across the four years between 2020/21 and 2023/24 have been Black Africans, accounting for 1% of all applicants, followed by any other ethnic group (1%), and any other Black background (1%).
7.10 Gypsies and/or Irish Travellers have accounted for just 0.2% of applications since 2020/21, with a total of 8 applicants from this ethnic group across the four years.
7.11 Analysis of the figures from HCLIC indicate that the proportion of applicants owed a relief duty is growing in Arun. Whilst in 2021/22 relief duties accounted for 43% of all homeless applicants, they now comprise the majority of duty cases at 58%. This equates to a 35% increase since 2021/22.
7.12 In 2022/23, 41% of single households were owed a prevention duty and 59% were owed a relief duty. For family households, 63% were owed a prevention duty and 37% a relief duty.
7.13 The breakdown of homeless duties owed by duty type and by household largely reflects the patterns observed nationally, regionally, and across the nominated DLUHC comparators. However, Arun does have a slightly higher prevalence of single person households.
7.14 The levels of repeat homelessness are generally low. Amongst households with children, the prevalence of repeat homelessness within the year was very low at 0.3%, but for single households, the level of repeat homelessness was just above 4%. The increase in the rate of relief duty cases indicates that the homelessness services in Arun District Council may be struggling to prevent households becoming homeless. The delivery of prevention outcomes for single households is less successful than for families.
7.15 In 2022/23, 57% of homeless duty applicants had no support needs, whilst 43% had some form of support need. An analysis of primary support needs has revealed that of the duty applicants deemed to have a support need, 43% had a mental health support need, 17% had physical ill health, 9% had a substance misuse issue, 8% had a learning disability and 7% were young people who require support to manage independently. Whilst some supported housing delivered locally can work with people with complex and multiple needs, the level of service commissioned does not enable partners to accept people into supported accommodation who have the most complex level of needs and we believe this is a gap in current commissioning.
7.16 The primary support needs of duty applicants have remained relatively consistent over the last four years, though there has been a slight ongoing increase in the proportion of applicants with a substance misuse issue (+7%) and a higher increase in those with physical ill health (+32%).
7.17 Looking at groups with particular needs, there were four people who had served in HM Forces and 12 care leavers aged 18-20, suggesting no major need for specialist work for veterans and a review of the care leaver pathway in partnership with West Sussex to ensure that no-one in this group slips through the net into homelessness at transitions stage.
7.18 Where numbers of people with support needs are high, these are mental health (43% of those owed a duty), physical health (17% of those owed a duty), 9.7% offending history and 9% with alcohol dependency.
Key facts
Levels of homelessness in Arun are similar to regional and national averages, though there is a slightly higher proportion of single people to families than elsewhere. Homelessness is rising faster for this cohort.
There are a high number of people who are homeless who have support needs and therefore may be vulnerable.
[3] * Figures for FY-2023/24 projections based on the latest available data from the first three quarters of the year.
[4] DLUHC designate a set of “nearest neighbour” authorities which exhibit similar traits. For Arun, these include: Bath & North East Somerset, Bradford, Chelmsford, Durham, Gloucester, North Lincolnshire, Warrington and West Suffolk.
[5] Throughout our analysis we have compared Arun to its DLUHC “nearest neighbour” authorities, as well as geographical and regional neighbours, and the national average for England excluding London.
8. Why are people becoming homeless?
8.1 For single households, the primary driver of homelessness or risk of homelessness across 2021/22 to 2023/24 has been an end of private rented tenancies either due to the landlord wishing to sell or re-let the property, or for other reasons. In 2023/24 so far, loss of private tenancy has made up 32% of the reasons for homeless duties being owed in Arun.
Case study: homeless tonight applicant
J, a man in his mid thirties, attended Littlehampton Civic Centre as he was going to be homeless that evening. He had been staying with friends in various locations on a short term basis and these places were no longer available. He has a history of previous homelessness and short term prison stays and a mental health diagnosis. Previously when he was homeless he slept in his car. However, despite being homeless he had been able to maintain his employment in the past. He also has children living in Arun.
Although currently unemployed he has a job lined up with a major energy supplier, starting in six weeks. The Housing Options officer at Arun District Council completed a homelessness application with J and accepted a duty to relieve his homelessness. As J was not, according to the homelessness legislation, in priority need he could not be offered emergency accommodation. It was agreed with J that his best option would be to find shared accommodation. The council agreed to assist him with rent in advance and a rent deposit (which will be paid back to the council once J starts his job).
8.2 The next most common reason for households in Arun being owed a duty has been households’ family or friends being unable to accommodate them, which has accounted for 31% of cases in 2023/24, followed by domestic abuse (13%).
8.3 Although the breakdown of reasons for homelessness duties being owed has remained relatively steady across the three-year period, there has been a shift in 2023/24 away from family and friends being unable to accommodate (-16%) to domestic abuse or other violent relationship breakdown (+30%).
Figure 8.1. Reason for homelessness amongst households with children in Arun, 2021/22 – 2023/24
8.4 For households with children, the key reason for homelessness duties being owed between 2021/22 and 2023/24 so far has been end of private sector tenancies. In 2023/24 so far, end of private sector tenancies has accounted for 42% of all homeless duty cases, comprising of 29% of cases due to the landlord wishing to sell or re-let their property.
The next most common reason for homelessness duties being owed to households with children has been family or friends no longer being able to accommodate, accounting for 27% of cases in 2023/24 so far. This is followed by domestic abuse at 20% of cases for 2023/24.
Case study: homelessness appointment
V, a man in his thirties, attended a planned homelessness appointment. He is currently in a private rented tenancy with two children and his ex-partner and has had a section 21 notice served. The relationship broke down as the eviction notice was served. The landlord did not give a reason for the eviction.
The council accepted a duty to prevent V’s homelessness and advised him of his rights within the notice he has currently been served, and also advised him not to leave the property. His partner’s homelessness application is being assessed separately. The housing advisor will contact the landlord to see if the eviction can be suspended whilst future accommodation is found for V and for his partner. V was also asked to supply more information about his physical health to assist in deciding whether he would be in priority need in terms of vulnerability. The housing advisor also talked through additional benefits V may be entitled to, and assisted V to apply for the housing register.
In this case, the council will be resolving two different homelessness cases: V’s partner, as the primary carer for the children and who will therefore be in priority need and will be supported with temporary accommodation when she leaves the property. V will be assessed as to whether he is in priority need and will receive advice and assistance on his housing options.
8.5 Domestic abuse is a much more significant contributory factor to homelessness for households with children, and cases have been steadily increasing over the last three years (+11%). However, there are limited places for the council to refer people who are fleeing domestic abuse to be accommodated in an emergency and this is a gap in the local commissioning landscape.
8.6 Close working with the pan-Sussex Partnership Board on gaps in the domestic abuse accommodation commissioning programme will help to alleviate some of these issues. Social landlords (including Arun District Council) also have a role to play in preventing homelessness for victim-survivors, including work to remove perpetrators from social tenancies, so that victim-survivors and their children can remain safely in the home without disrupting children’s schooling or access to other services.
Key facts
The most significant factor driving homelessness in Arun is the end of private rented sector tenancy, both for families and single people. The next most common reason is that friends or family are no longer able to accommodate the person, followed by domestic abuse.
9. Rough sleeping in Arun
9.1 Levels of rough sleeping are difficult to measure precisely due to its transient nature. However, figures from the rough sleeper initiative (RSI) grant-funded programme in Arun indicate that 152 unique individuals have been in receipt of the street outreach service between May 2022 and February 2024, indicating that they were rough sleeping at some point over this period.
9.2 There are 15 individuals in Arun’s rough sleeping cohort who are considered to be long-term or repeat rough sleepers who have been sleeping rough in two or more years out of the last three, or in two or more months out of the last twelve.
9.3 Rough sleeping has slowly been on the rise in Arun over the last few years. Analysis of DLUHC’s ending rough sleeping data-led framework (DELTA) on rough sleeping indicates that in September 2023 there were 25 individuals sleeping rough in Arun over the course of a month, nine (36%) of whom were new to rough sleeping. This is a 32% increase on monthly figures for September 2021, when there were 19 individuals rough sleeping.
Figure 9.1. Total number of people sleeping rough over the course of the month in Arun, September 2021 - 2023
9.4 On average, there have been seven individuals sleeping rough on a single night in Arun between September 2021 and 2023.
9.5 Of the 491 instances of rough sleeping recorded in the monthly figures[6], 212 (43%) were new to rough sleeping. This reflects the relatively small group of entrenched rough sleepers in Arun.
Case study: RSI client
X, a man in his early 60s, left prison in 2023, and did not receive an assessment of his housing situation or risk of homelessness on release. He was rough sleeping at Gatwick Airport for six months before returning to Littlehampton where he had lived and has family connections. He had some contact with voluntary sector agencies but was wary of contacting statutory services.
The RSI team at Arun District Council pursued assertive outreach with him for four months before X agreed to come into temporary accommodation. Assertive outreach is visiting every few days to his rough sleeping site to check on his wellbeing and to work on his motivation to come off the streets and into temporary accommodation. He has done well in his placement in Littlehampton, and has supported other homeless people in this accommodation, working closely with RSI staff to ensure that the service is a pleasant and welcoming environment.
After a five month stay, the RSI team have found him a suitable private rented sector flat and have helped him with a deposit and rent in advance. X is in the process of moving in and has also had support from the team to access medical services as he needs a hip replacement.
The level of rough sleeping in Arun equates to 6.6 rough sleepers for every 10,000 people in the population. Compared to the DLUHC comparator authorities, Arun has the fourth lowest rate of rough sleeping out of nine comparators but compared to the other West Sussex districts and boroughs, it has the third highest.
Figure 9.2. Rate of rough sleeping per 10,000 population – DLUHC comparator authorities:
Figure 9.3. Rate of rough sleeping per 10,000 population – West Sussex districts and boroughs:
Source: Ending Rough Sleeping, Data Led Framework 2022/23 (DLUHC)
9.6 Of the 152 people accessing the Rough Sleeper Initiative team, 80% of the individuals receiving RSI services in Arun were male and 20% were female. These figures are similar to the annual rough sleeping snapshot for 2023, which reports 82% of rough sleepers in Arun as male and 18% as female.
9.7 Of the 152 people, 79% of those receiving RSI services between May 2022 and February 2024 were UK Nationals, 17% were European, and just 2% were of other nationalities and 1% Eastern European, 69% had some form of local connection to Arun, and a total of 9 people (5%) had No Recourse to Public Funds.
9.8 The figures presented here only record people who have made contact with the formal parts of the statutory homeless system. At any one time there will be people experiencing homelessness who do not wish to approach or are unaware of council services. By very definition this “hidden homelessness” is difficult to estimate or identify.
9.9 Crisis’ Homelessness Monitor (2023) estimates a ratio between the numbers rough sleeping and the numbers sofa surfing. In 2023 this ratio was 10:1. Taking a rolling annual average of the estimated numbers of rough sleepers each month between September 2022 to 2023, it is possible that there are around 210 individuals sofa surfing or in other hidden forms of homelessness in Arun.
Key facts
Rough sleeping has been slowly rising in Arun over the last five years, though levels are relatively low in comparison to other areas. The caseload of the RSI team over the last two years is 152 people, made up of around 80% men and 20% women. 79% were British citizens.
Around 15 people are classed as ‘entrenched’, that is, have a history of either rough sleeping for a long period or multiple experiences of rough sleeping. This is a small cohort and committed work by the team at the council and with voluntary sector partners is having a positive impact on this group.
Case study: homelessness hubs
Stonepillow in Bognor Regis, and Turning Tides in Littlehampton, both provide homelessness hub services in the town centres. These locations provide housing advice, case management, and serve as link locations for partners including drug and alcohol services and mental health services. The hubs also provide basic assistance with food, laundry and showers. Both services are open several mornings a week and offer group activities where these can be funded in the afternoons. The hubs are important in enabling working people who are rough sleeping to maintain their employment (by providing laundry and shower facilities). They also enable services to contact people who are rough sleeping or in precarious living situations and provide them with advice, assistance and assessments for access to health and drug and alcohol services if they need them.
K, a man in his twenties, had been sleeping rough in a secluded location outside Bognor Regis for nearly six years, whilst accessing the hub in the town. He refused help or to reveal his sleeping site due to his concerns over his safety and mistrust of services. After a health emergency where he was found by the outreach team, he finally accepted assistance, and took a temporary accommodation bedspace in Bognor Regis. He stayed there for four months before being supported to access a private rented sector tenancy, which he has sustained. He is now attending catering college and hopes to find work as a chef.
[6] These are not each individual rough sleepers as many will still be sleeping rough from month to month. As such, there is double counting in the figures as 491 cannot be considered as the rough sleeping population.
10. Impact of interventions
10.1 At the end of quarter three 2023/24, 22% of those owed either a prevention or relief duty in Arun are accommodated at the point at which their duty is closed. This is a 63% decrease on 2021/22 when 59% of all households owed a duty were accommodated by the time their case ended.
10.2 The drop-off in accommodation outcomes for family households is particularly severe. In 2021/22 73% of family households secured accommodation as result of their homeless duty assessment, but this has declined by 78%, with just 16% of family households securing accommodation in 2023/24 so far. The rate of decline for single households is significant at 56% but is less dramatic than that for families.
10.3 While there has been a notable drop in outcomes, for households that have become homeless because of domestic abuse there has been an 86% drop in successful accommodation outcomes since 2021/22.
10.4 Outcomes for those leaving institutions without accommodation available have also dropped by 79%. We believe this is due in part to many landlords refusing to house people with a history of offending; this has made the existing challenges of finding suitable affordable accommodation for this cohort harder still.
10.5 Analysis of the HCLIC source data reveals that despite the drop in successful accommodation outcomes between 2021/22 and the end of quarter three of 2023/24, the distribution of applicants across different accommodation types has remained relatively steady. Across all three years, the largest proportion of applicants ended up either in a tenancy or in owner occupation (48% in 2023/24).
10.6 The next largest proportion of applicants [CP1] ended up in temporary accommodation (18% in 2023/24) or living with family and/or friends (18%). Though a very low proportion of households end up either homeless (1%) or rough sleeping (1%), a large proportion are not stably accommodated and can be considered likely to become homeless again in the future.
10.7 For all households the proportion of prevention duty cases in which either 56 days elapsed[7] or where contact is lost with the applicant has been decreasing since 2020/21.
10.8 For single homeless households there has been a marked increase of 23% since 2021/22 in the proportion of applicants whose prevention duty has ended in them securing accommodation for six or more months (64%). Of those who secured accommodation, 30% sustained their existing home whilst 70% found alternative accommodation.
10.9 For households with children there has been an increase of 29% in the proportion of cases becoming a relief duty, meaning that they have become homeless (62%). The proportion of families owed a prevention duty who have successfully secured accommodation for six or more months at the point of duty closure is down 15% on 2021/22 at 35%. 48% of those who secured accommodation for six or more months did so by sustaining their existing accommodation, whilst 52% found alternative accommodation.
10.10 Compared to the DLUHC comparator authorities, Arun District Council ranks fourth (of nine local authorities) in terms of successful accommodation outcomes for single households owed a prevention duty (58%), but joint seventh for households with children (38%).
10.11 Both for single households and households with children, there are a high proportion of activities undertaken to prevent homelessness which are unsuccessful. For single households, 28% of prevention activities were unsuccessful in 2022/23, whilst for families this was 47%.
10.12 Of the single homeless households owed a duty, 14% found their own accommodation without any financial assistance from the council, whilst for families this figure was 12%. A good proportion of single households (39%) did however secure accommodation with the help of the council. With 18% of single households who were owed a duty having their accommodation secured directly by the council via the housing options service, making this the most common successful outcome for single households.
10.13 The second most common activity for single households in 20202/23 was providing advice and support. This activity accounts for 15% of single households’ duty cases.
10.14 The rate of successful outcomes of housing options activities is lower for households with children. Of those who were helped successfully, 13% had no specific activity to resolve the threat of homelessness except being given advice and information.
10.15 The most common specific activity to help prevent homelessness for families owed a duty was to help secure accommodation found by the applicant, without financial payment. Across both single and family households, the use of direct financial support to prevent homelessness is very limited. Across 2020/21 to 2023/24, there was only one case who received a Discretionary Housing Payment to help with rent shortfalls. Arun District Council uses other funds to support people to access the private rented sector. We could use discretionary housing payments to either use these resources elsewhere, or to help more homeless people into accommodation.
10.16 The data indicates progress in successfully preventing homelessness for single homeless households, by securing accommodation for over six months. However, there's a concerning rise in families becoming homeless. While Arun District Council ranks fourth for successful outcomes for single households, it is joint seventh for families. Both groups face high rates of unsuccessful prevention activities. Direct financial support is minimal, highlighting the need for more effective strategies tailored to the different challenges faced by single individuals and families in tackling homelessness.
10.17 Accommodation outcomes are much stronger for single households than for families at 42% of all relief duty cases in 2023/24 compared to just 19% for families. Trends for this outcome have followed a similar pattern of decline between 2020/21 and 2022/23 at 21% for families and 29% for single households. Figures indicate that this outcome has begun to recover over the first three quarters of 2023/24.
Figure 10.1 Relief duty case accommodation outcomes by accommodation type provided, 2020/21 to 2023/24* (Quarter 3): single households and households with children.
Source: HCLIC 2022/23 (DLUHC)
10.18 Between 2020/21 and 2022/23, we hugely increased the number of people being housed at the end of the duty (by 177% for families entering the private rented sector, and 136% for families entering the social rented sector. However, we have more to do, as we still have a low proportion of families accessing sustainable housing at the end of the duty in comparison to our peers (figure below).
10.19 We help more single people into supported accommodation at the point of their case closing (32% of single people, and 7% for families), which reflects the both the lack of options for families with support needs, and the high level of need in single homeless people.
Figure 10.2. Relief duty accommodation outcomes, DLUHC comparator authorities, 2022/23
Source: HCLIC 2022/23 (DLUHC)
10.20 Of the specific successful activities, the most common for both single households and households with children was accommodation being secured by the local authority via the housing options service. The rate of this success is nonetheless comparatively low, at 18% for single households and just 8% for families.
Whilst we are utilising a wide range of actions and responses to end homelessness for single people and for families, it is becoming harder to deliver sustained outcomes for people. We believe this is due to a range of factors. Firstly, the numbers of both single homeless people and families are increasing, as are the levels of support needs in both groups. Secondly, we are finding it more difficult to place people in sustainable long term accommodation. This is due to the sharply decreasing pool of affordable private rented sector accommodation, and small number of available lettings in the social rented sector. With an increase in demand on one hand, and a decrease of supply in the other, our continuing efforts to prevent or resolve homelessness are becoming harder. However, we have identified a range of additional solutions which will help us to deliver alternative solutions for people and reduce some pressure on both social and private rented sector properties. We believe this, along with the work through our Housing Strategy to develop more accommodation across Arun, will help us make a shift and prevent homelessness or make it rare and brief.
Key facts
The data demonstrates that relieving homelessness for families is much harder than for single people, perhaps because the services for single homeless people are effective and well delivered in partnership with voluntary sector partnerships. Fewer partnerships like these exist in terms of partner agencies who can prevent and relieve family homelessness.
Whilst we have improved housing outcomes for people approaching us as homeless over the last three years, we have more to do in terms of ensuring more people who are homeless end up in a suitable and sustainable housing situation after our support.
[7] Local authorities have a duty to assist in terms of prevention and/or relief of homelessness for 56 days under the Homelessness Reduction Act (2018). At the end of this period, the council may be satisfied that it has done everything possible to help find accommodation for the homeless person.
11. Temporary accommodation
11.1 A snapshot of temporary accommodation provided to homeless households in Arun in September 2023, identified that 61.4% of households were in nightly paid, privately managed accommodation. This is an emergency placement paid on a night by night basis and is the most costly and insecure form of temporary accommodation. There were no households in private sector leased accommodation (PSL).
Figure 11.1 Temporary accommodation by type, DLUHC comparator authorities, September 2023
Source: HCLIC 2022/23 (DLUHC)
11.2 The types of temporary accommodation supplied by each council both in the West Sussex and across the DLUHC comparator authorities varies greatly. However, across both groups, Arun District Council has the highest proportion of households in temporary accommodation, housed in nightly paid, privately managed accommodation. The council’s use of B and B and hotel accommodation however compares well with others.
Figure 11.2 Numbers in B and B and Hotels, Arun, September 2021 to September 2023
Source: Quarterly TA statistics 2023 (DLUHC)
11.3 Over the past two years, the use of Private Sector Leased (PSL) accommodation, hostels, nightly paid and local authority/ housing association properties for temporary accommodation has been relatively stable, with no significant trends emerging. However, there has been a notable rise in the use of B and B since September 2021 of 113%. A rise in the use of B and Bs and hotels, combined with increasingly prolonged stays indicate escalating costs and highlight the need to find sustainable housing solutions locally.
Case study: creating better quality temporary accommodation
Council owned temporary accommodation on New Road was increasingly unpopular and did not provide a good standard of accommodation for families as the bathroom and kitchen facilities were shared. However, the Rough Sleeper Initiative team identified that this could be a very useful resource for accommodation for single people.
The property is in the process of a major renovation funded by Arun District Council including new kitchens and bathrooms, and will provide eight bedspaces for single homeless people, including one room which will be available for a homeless person with a dog which has direct access to a private section of the shared external garden. Finding accommodation for homeless people with dogs is often very difficult and can be a driver for rough sleeping.
11.4 Arun has 183 units of exempt accommodation for people facing homelessness, mainly delivered by voluntary sector partners which are well embedded into the Rough Sleeper Initiative service provision, some of which also receive support funding from West Sussex County Council. Arun District Council is also making further blocks of temporary accommodation available to this group which provide a more stable and positive environment than hotel/bed and breakfast accommodation. This enhances the council’s ability to support people into long-term, stable accommodation. However, we know that referrals to providers of supported accommodation are often refused for people whose needs are too high for the current commissioned arrangements. There is a lack of suitable accommodation for people with more complex needs, and particularly women with complex needs who can be hard to find suitable options for within the current portfolio.
11.5 Move-on rates vary between providers. Over 2023/24, Turning Tides were able to move just four clients into settled accommodation from 17 bed spaces (23.5%). Discussions with stakeholders indicate that a similar picture exists across other supported accommodation providers in Arun. The relative lack of movement into supported housing can be linked to the difficulties in finding move-on accommodation.
11.6 Bognor Housing Trust was however relatively more successful in facilitating move on from supported accommodation, having facilitated 27 moves to settled housing from 25 bedspaces across 2023/24.
Key facts
The majority of homeless households in temporary accommodation are in insecure, nightly paid accommodation which is expensive, though our rates of bed and breakfast and hotel accommodation compare well with other authorities.
For single people with more complex needs, there is a lack of suitable options as few providers can accept this group and do not have the staffing in place to manage these referrals. This is a gap in the current provision, particularly for women with complex needs who may be vulnerable in mixed-sex settings.
Rates of move-on vary between providers and move-on rates for clients with more complex needs are lower than for people with lower needs.
12. Strategic priorities
12.1 We have identified three core areas of focus for the strategy. These are to increase work on the prevention of homelessness, to develop more permanent solutions to homelessness, and to build on partnerships to address the gaps and tackle more complex homelessness issues. We know we have more work to do to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place, and to provide more long-term solutions to homelessness in Arun. Finally, while we have very positive and effective working relationships with a range of partners, we have identified areas where we can build upon these to deliver better outcomes for our residents.
Prevention of homelessness
12.2 We have identified that despite the challenging situation regarding the availability of housing and the cost of living pressures on households that are contributing, Arun District Council has worked hard to address homelessness and rough sleeping and there are currently limited levers to pull to improve the prevention of homelessness. The council therefore needs to consider new solutions. There are some groups where we can take specific action to prevent homelessness.
12.3 The first area is to consider the use of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) to prevent evictions, including arrangements lasting longer than one to three months.
12.4 We will explore the feasibility of providing family mediation for young people who are homeless, where this is safe for the young person. We will also build on our relationships with Children’s Social Care to ensure care-experienced young people do not become homeless through the formalisation of a specialist pathway for this group of young people.
12.5 We will work with His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to review the pathway from prison to community, to ensure that no-one is homeless on release from prison. This will include reviewing the process of Duty to Refer and how the Accommodation for Every Offender (AFEO) and Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3 accommodation options are used to ensure that this pathway is effective. AFEO and CAS3 are additional accommodation options for people leaving custody and are in addition to both our current commissioned and exempt accommodation options.
12.6 We will work with housing associations in Arun to ensure that they provide effective tenancy sustainment services for their tenants, and work to prevent evictions wherever possible.
12.7 We will consider delivery of additional tenancy sustainment services for people at high risk of becoming homeless in the private sector, to complement the tenancy sustainment work we currently offer to people moving onto the private rented sector from RSI accommodation.
12.8 We will work with our partners and other agencies and services to use the information we each have to help prevent homelessness. This will include using intelligence such as non-payment of utility bills, use of food banks and other such indicators to identify households in financial distress and who are potentially at risk of becoming homeless. We will aim to intervene and provide support as early as possible so that issues do not escalate into homelessness.
12.9 We will work to develop more strategic relationships with private sector landlords in the district to understand their businesses and the pressures on them, building on our current area-leading approach to working with the private sector. We will encourage landlords to work directly with us to prevent evictions, and to increase the supply of private rented sector tenancies available in the district, particularly for people on low incomes. We will use the learning from these partnerships to develop new ways of working with the private sector and continue to test and learn new solutions to prevent homelessness.
Develop more permanent solutions to homelessness
12.10 We understand that despite everything we will do to prevent homelessness, there will always be individuals and families where homelessness cannot be prevented. Where this happens, we will do more to ensure that homelessness is brief and non-recurring.
12.11 The first area for action is to encourage the development of more social rented and affordable rented homes, particularly for families for whom there are fewer affordable options.
12.12 We will ensure our Allocations Policy continues to enable homeless households to gain access to social housing.
12.13 We will develop an acquisitions and disposals strategy to ensure that the council makes the best use of resources to increase affordable housing, and to acquire, in partnership, or to develop where appropriate Council owned Temporary Accommodation (TA) provision to meet the varied needs of homeless households in Arun.
12.14 We will consider developing a private rented leasing scheme to provide a better alternative to bed and breakfast and nightly paid accommodation, and potentially as a longer-term housing solution for people who find it very difficult to access mainstream private rented sector accommodation.
12.15 We will develop a move-on programme for single people in supported and hostel accommodation and encourage voluntary sector partners to develop new partnerships to help improve throughput processing of this accommodation. This will ensure that temporary and supported accommodation remains available for single people who become homeless in Arun, particularly for people who are vulnerable and have support needs. We will assess whether additional community-based support may assist tenancy sustainment for people moving on from hostels and temporary accommodation, thus reducing repeat experiences of homelessness.
12.16 We will assess the needs for supported housing in line with the Supported Housing Oversight Act (2023) and develop a supported accommodation strategy with our partners at the County.
Build on partnerships
12.17 Preventing and relieving homelessness and rough sleeping is not a task that Arun District Council can accomplish alone. We operate within a complex system of statutory and voluntary sector services, which must work together effectively to ensure as few people become homeless for as short a period as possible.
12.18 We will build on the excellent working relationships we have locally. This includes our new multi-disciplinary team to look at how we can most effectively help people who are high risk/high priority entrenched rough sleepers. We will continue to bid for central government funds, including after the end of the current Rough Sleeper Initiative funding round in 2025, to fund posts within voluntary sector partner agencies. We will work with the Changing Futures Team at West Sussex County Council in their final year of operation to ensure that the complexity of needs of people in Arun, at the highest level of risk, is properly understood and that suitable services and support are in place to manage these risks once the programme ends.
12.19 We will work with commissioners at West Sussex County Council and the Integrated Care System, Sussex Health and Care, to ensure that future commissioning of services will meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens Particularly safe accommodation for people fleeing domestic abuse, for young people leaving care and for people with complex and multiple needs.
12.20 For the latter cohort we will work with county council colleagues to understand whether, and how, extra care housing for this group could work, to provide a permanent housing solution for people with the most complex needs. Collaborative working is currently improving successful in terms of accessing supported accommodation and we will build on this to make sure this limited resource is used effectively. This relates to our move-on programme identified above.
12.21 We will develop new relationships with private sector landlords to stimulate the local market and encourage landlords to make property available on a long term basis at the Local Housing Allowance level.
12.22 We will build on relationships with housing associations to ensure that their properties are suitably allocated to people who are homeless and ensure that housing associations are playing their part in reducing evictions wherever possible and working with us when evicting someone from a social rented property in Arun.
13. Action plan
Homelessness prevention
| Action | Responsible organisation/team | Timescale | Resources required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consider using discretionary housing payments more flexibly to prevent homelessness, including arrangements lasting for longer than three months | Housing Benefit/Housing Options | Year 1 | Capacity within Housing Options/ Housing Benefit |
| Explore family mediation for youth homelessness | Housing Options | Year 1 | Capacity within Housing Options |
| Formalise specialist housing pathway for care leavers | Housing Options | Year 1 | Capacity within Housing Options |
| Work with HM Prison and Probation Service to review custody to community pathway | Housing Options | Year 1 — 2 | Capacity within Housing Options |
| Work with local housing associations to ensure tenancy sustainment services are in place and pre-eviction protocols are developed | Housing Options | Year 1 — 2 | Capacity within Housing Options |
| Consider delivering more tenancy sustainment work for people at high risk of homelessness in the private sector | Housing Options | Year 2 | Funding for TST staff |
| Develop new intelligence models to identify households at risk of homelessness | Housing Options | Year 2 | Systems development and analysis capacity |
| Develop strategic relationships with private sector landlords, to build on our current working practice | Housing Options | Year 2 | Additional PSHO resource |
Develop more permanent solutions to homelessness
| Action | Responsible organisation/team | Timescale | Resources required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encourage development of more social rented and affordable rented homes | Housing/Planning | Cross referenced with Housing Strategy | Capacity within Housing and Planning |
| Review access to social housing lettings through routine monitoring of core lettings data | Housing Options | Year 2 (ongoing, quarterly) | Capacity within Housing Options |
| Develop and acquisitions and disposals strategy and develop or acquire council owned temporary accommodation to meet the varied needs of homeless households. | Housing/Planning | Cross referenced with Housing Strategy | Capacity within Housing and Planning and available funds |
| Consider the development of a private sector leasing scheme to provide more secure temporary and longer term housing solutions | Housing Options | Year 2 — 3 | Capacity within Housing Options and a cost/benefit analysis (finance) |
| Develop a move on programme for single people in supported, hostel and temporary accommodation | Housing Options | Year 2 | Capacity within Housing Options/funding for additional staff |
| Develop Supported Accommodation Strategy for Arun to consider the needs of people in the district in the next five years and what supported housing exists to meet these needs. | Housing Options | Year 2 — 3 | Additional capacity within existing teams |
Build on partnerships
| Actions | Responsible organisation/team | Timescale | Resources required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build on existing partnerships to develop plans for future service delivery after the end of the Rough Sleeping Initiative and Changing Futures funding programmes | Housing Options/RSI team | Year 1 | Capacity within existing teams |
| Work with other statutory partners commissioning accommodation for people in Arun, including West Sussex County Council and Sussex Health and Care, to ensure these meet the needs of our residents, particularly for people fleeing domestic abuse, care leavers and people with complex and multiple needs | Housing Options/RSI team | Year 1 | Capacity within existing teams |
| Develop new relationships with private sector landlords to stimulate the local market and encourage landlords to make more property available to low income households | Housing Options team | Year 2 | Capacity within Housing Options |
| Build on relationships with local housing associations to ensure allocations policies do not exclude homeless households and develop new pre-eviction protocols to prevent homelessness from social tenancies | Housing Options team | Year 2 — 3 | Capacity within Housing Options |
Campbell Tickell
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