Resident Questions for Housing Area Panel

Reference Number: E3.5

Department

Housing

Date question raised

25/08/2022

Date of Area Panel

W/O - 10/10/22

Area in city

EAST

Star rating

3 stars

Deadline for response

19/09/22

Name of officer responding

Aaron Burns

Officer job title

Head of Housing Options and Homelessness

Resident Question

Title of Question

Sensitive Lets Craven Vale

Issue

Vulnerable people being placed into Sensitive Lets are not being sufficiently supported. 

Background

Vulnerable individuals do not have the continued support they need once they have been housed.  

Craven Vale residents have observed a tenant in a Sensitive Let, who has now been befriended, or ‘cuckooed’, by a local resident who is known to be a drug dealer.  

The tenant has since been reported to the police for anti-social behaviour. 

With sufficient support, the situation would not have escalated to this point, and much harm could have been avoided. 

 

Action requested

Residents would like to know: 

-      What support is currently given to vulnerable people after being housed, and how long for? 

-      Does the Council think this is sufficient? And if not, what are the Council’s plans to extend support to vulnerable tenants? 

 

Officer Response

Contact details

Aaron.Burns@brighton-hove.gov.uk

 

Response

For council tenants we have a team of Tenancy Sustainment Officers who do targeted pieces of work with clients who are at risk of losing their home.  This team will often link in with other statutory and non-statutory services such as Mental Health, Adult Social Care, in order to address the support needs of tenants.

 

The temporary accommodation service also has an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer who will provide similar interventions with clients in their stock of accommodation, as well as a team of Welfare Officers who provide support and resettlement for clients. Further to this, where a tenant is in a Housing First unit of Temporary Accommodation, they will be provided with support from Mungo’s, the commissioned support provider for this type of accommodation.

 

The support a tenant needs will vary, as this will depend on the levels of presenting need of the client and their willingness to engage with the support which is on offer.

 

The support offer for tenants is being reviewed across the Housing Service.

Action

N/A

Start date

N/A

End date

N/A