Alternative approaches to accommodation

For many people experiencing homelessness, moving into a general needs hostel presents the most common and readily available option to solving their accommodation needs. However, while this is the case for many service users, ‘traditional’ generic hostels that take a one-size fits all approach are not one-stop answers that are suited to all. The results of this can be twofold, either causing service users to fall back into homelessness through failing to sustain accommodation, or causing service users to refuse to access accommodation outright.

“for some people hostels may be part of the problem, not the solution.”  (Shelter 2008:6)

In an attempt to combat these issues, Homeless Link would like to advocate a multi-faceted whole-market approach to providing accommodation making the chances of success more likely during a client’s initial move and their time living in accommodation. This includes providing a selection of ‘alternative models’ of accommodation to ‘traditional hostels’ including: alternative ways of running ‘hostels’ and having accommodation for homeless people that is alternative to hostels all together. Therefore, rather than a service user having to adapt to a traditional model of hostel accommodation which can prove difficult and even have negative effects upon the service user, there can be a service that suits the need of the client. By referring a service user to the right accommodation option in the first place it can prevent future homelessness and reduce the damaging impact that longer-term homelessness can have upon them.

Homeless Link has conducted research into the various alternative approaches to accommodation based services that are in operation within the UK. This page aims to briefly outline the case for why these services are needed by looking at some of the reasons why individuals may have difficulty accessing and sustaining accommodation. It links to summaries and case studies that explain innovative approaches to accommodation that overcome these issues.

ISSUES WITH ‘TRADITIONAL’ HOSTELS

There are a number of contributing factors that can contribute to the reasons why some service users may have difficulty in ‘traditional’ hostel accommodation. These may be:

• A lack of privacy and sense of security
• Rules and regulations may be too structured
• Accommodation may be lacking a structure or routine
• Support needs may not be catered for by existing provision

These issues may have culminated in:
 
• Previous negative experiences of hostels

Any one or a combination of the above factors may contribute to an individual having difficulty within accommodation or causing them to create personal barriers to accessing accommodation. These are explained further below:

A common issue at the centre of the need for alternative approaches to accommodation surrounds clients who may be difficult to engage and have been resistant to existing service interventions. For example, those who have been street homeless for prolonged periods and have repeatedly refused offers of accommodation may do so as they are unwilling to move into ‘traditional’ hostel accommodation. Clients with complex needs and/or a long history of rough sleeping often hold negative feelings or even fear driven by previous detrimental experiences within a hostel environment. This is often a key factor within this rejection and when coupled with complex support issues including emotional, psychological and/or mental health issues, returning to a similar situation may be a highly undesirable prospect. For this group, many of whom are also older, the youthful demographic that can be commonplace can also pose a barrier with many individuals often seeking privacy and a sense of security that cannot be found in a traditional hostel environment. As such, an individual’s dislike for accessing accommodation can be complex and diverse often culminating in a service user expressing that their life on the street is a ‘choice’ when often this choice is based upon the housing options that are available or what is apparently available to them. The approaches to engage ‘entrenched’ rough sleepers in London that have been driven under the Rough Sleeper ‘205’ initiative have demonstrated how thinking outside of the box with regard to service provision can help to move-in those who have been previously difficult to engage.

The regulation and restrictions that are often in play in hostel accommodation can be interpreted by some service users as an interference in their independence and damaging to the ‘freedom’ that they may experience on the streets. It can be difficult enough moving into accommodation after a long history of rough sleeping, let alone trying to adjust to living in a hostel environment. Similarly, accommodation with a highly structured approach can be difficult for individuals with chaotic lifestyles to adjust to with many failing to comply with rules that are often conditional to the services provided or are simply unable to engage with services. For these reasons flexibility and leniency in accommodation can help individuals with these issues to sustain tenancies. By targeting the way accommodation is run at certain client groups and working with complex issues as support needs rather than as barrier to accessing accommodation tenancies are more likely to be sustained.

Conversely, some service users may find that daily life and the support on offer in many hostels is not structured enough. They may thrive from having more structured daily routine and more rigid rules to follow. By offering accommodation that tries to motivate service users to participate in a community or work can act to empower and begin to develop an increased sense of self-worth in clients. Holistic approaches to accommodation that take this approach can begin to give some clients a new sense of meaning in their lives, something that may have been missing in previous accommodation.

While adapting accommodation services to those with high or complex support needs has proved incredibly successful when working with this client group, there can also be a lack of accommodation for those who have limited support needs. By placing an individual into a hostel where many of the other residents have high support needs it can have a detrimental effect upon them. It can also be the case that individuals who have completed detox may have to live in general needs hostels with those who are still using drugs which can quickly reverse progress made. Similarly, a large amount of research has revealed that those who are in contact with the criminal justice system are far more likely to re-offend upon accessing temporary accommodation. For these reasons, mixed-purpose hostels are not always suited to people with low support needs and may present a contributing factor in their problems, not an answer.

Homeless Link advocates an approach to support and accommodation that suits the diverse needs that people experiencing homelessness may have. There is no single support issue or characteristic that all homeless people have and there is no single answer for each problem, therefore service provision and accommodation needs to reflect this. The following page works as a summary of alternative approaches to accommodating and supporting clients who may have complex needs or may find a hostel environment difficult to adapt to. Many of the projects listed below have arisen out of a gap in services and a need from a certain client group for the service they provide. In this sense, they do not form an answer for all clients, but work as part of a diverse strategy used locally and nationally. This page and subsequent links attempts to highlight alternative approaches, any transferable elements and how the model may sit as part of an integrated and whole market approach to accommodation based service provision. Click on the below slider to see summaries and case studies of alternative models.

Further Reading

Shelter have produced a 2 volume report that looks at innovative and good practice approaches to supporting street homeless people with complex needs. Click here to view volume 1 and volume 2.

Crisis have also produced a report on alternative models of accommodation including Housing First.

ALTERNATIVE MODELS

Housing First

Housing First bypasses temporary accommodation by placing the most vulnerable homeless people directly from the street into independent and permanent tenancies with tailored support, without insisting that they engage in treatment (Crisis 2010). The approach was first used in the US and has increasingly embraced in recent years thanks to its endorsement by the federal government. Within the UK, a number of projects have used a similar approach, for example, Turning Point Scotland has recently began a pilot project in Glasgow that follows the ethos of Housing First to support chaotic drug users. Similarly, a more established approach that loosely follows the Housing First model is BCHA’s Bridge Project in Exeter. This is a scheme that places entrenched rough sleepers with complex needs directly from the street into short-term 2 year tenancies with assertive support.

View a Homeless Link case study on BCHA The Bridge Project
 

Specialist Transitional Accommodation

As some clients are resistant to or unable to sustain traditional hostel accommodation, specialist transitional housing projects attempt to tailor the service provided to the needs of the client. These approaches take a client-led, personalised approach to support with low demands for engagement and often high tolerance to client’s behaviour. A key example of this is The Lodge, a 40 bed ‘guest house’ style project for older entrenched rough sleepers with low support needs. The Broadway Old Theatre also takes a similar client-centred ethos in its approach to housing chaotic drug users with complex needs.

Transitional Tenancies

‘Transitional Tenancies’ are independent self contained tenancies for people who are ready to move from supported accommodation to independence.  It is part of an explicitly whole market approach that helps people to move to their optimum level of independence. The tenancies are provided by landlords who are sympathetic to the tenants’ past problems. Tenants can be as independent as they wish, with support and reassurance available when they want it. Intensive Housing Management ensures that anyone who is having difficulties can be assisted swiftly should any problems arise, thereby ensuring that any issues are sorted out at the first opportunity, or tenants are offered a return to more supported accommodation. Transitional Tenancies could be provided either as one off pepper potted properties or larger scale schemes like Byker Bridge Housing Association’s Beavans accommodation project.

Wet Housing

‘Wet housing’ attempts to accommodate groups of street homeless heavy drinkers in self-contained housing units. This approach is based upon the idea that the ‘gangs’ that street drinkers spend time in are important as social support networks and prevent isolation, but also form a barrier to adapting to the rules in more traditional hostels. By adapting accommodation to the ‘group dynamic’ of some street drinkers it attempts to reduce street drinking and street homelessness with an emphasis placed on harm reduction. (Shelter 2008)

Foyers

In recent years ‘Foyers’ have been developed to provide accommodation for homeless young people, together with vocational guidance, job search, assistance with training, work experience opportunities and links with employers. Some also help residents develop independent living skills. Foyers aim to help young people make a successful transition from leaving home to setting up alone. Developed in France in response to the problems of homelessness and youth labour mobility they aim to break the cycle that many young people find themselves in of not being able to get a job if they are homeless, and being unable to get accommodation if they have not got a job. A key organisation producing resources on this topic is the Foyer Federation.

Homeless Pages has a wide range of resources that further explain Foyers.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent Supportive housing allows clients to access safe and secure rental housing that is affordable to people on very low incomes. Typically this will have a provision of support by staff with appropriate skills and expertise for the client-group either on-site or nearby. Typically units are self contained and on a permanent basis, with no limit to length of tenure. While there are few examples which begin to fit this model specifically within the homelessness sector, examples could be drawn from housing provision for other client groups with support needs. For more information please visit the Council to Homeless Persons website.

Emmaus

Emmaus Communities offer homeless people a home, work and the chance to rebuild their lives in a supportive environment. There are currently 20 Communities around the UK and several more in development. Each Community is an independent Charity that makes decisions at local level about how the Community is built, managed and developed to become self-sufficient through its associated business. ‘Companions’ live and work together in a structured & holistic approach to accommodation that provides a high level of peer-to-peer support. Of the Emmaus Communities within the UK, Emmaus Cambridge represents one of the most established.

To learn more please the Homeless Link case study on Emmaus Cambridge or visit the Emmaus UK website.

Self-Help Housing

Self-Help Housing involves groups of local people bringing back into use empty properties that are in limbo, awaiting decisions about their future use or their redevelopment. Self-help housing groups negotiate with the owners of empty properties for their use and then go on to organise whatever repairs are necessary to make them habitable. The key benefit of this approach is it makes use of disused buildings in order to provide affordable accommodation for people that are homeless or in housing need. Self Help Housing projects also have a number of other benefits including providing training and opportunities to learn new skills, improving neighbourhoods and building communities, volunteering opportunities and empowering those involved. A great example is the Canopy Housing Project in Leeds. To learn more visit the Self-Help Housing website. 

Nightstop and Stopover

Nightstop is the provision of emergency accommodation specifically for single homeless 16-25 year olds in the homes of approved volunteers. The host offers a bed for the night, meals, an opportunity for the young person to bath and wash their clothes and a friendly listening ear. The approach is intended to keep the young person in a safe and friendly environment whilst allowing agencies time to look at the alternatives available to the young person or maybe even to use mediation services to help them to return to family where this is appropriate. This is a short-term and solution focused approach that could offer the possibility of being expanded to other age and client groups. Nightstops are currently administered by Depaul UK . To learn more about this approach you can read a summary on the Homeless Link website . Hope Worldwide's Two Step programme operates a similar approach to accommodating single, non statutory priority homeless individuals typically over the age of 25.