The Head of Housing Services has submitted a report to respond to Council’s motion requesting officers to investigate “the processes or procedures that could be used to make empty properties available for use as temporary shelters.

Recommendation: The City Executive Board resolves to

1.    Agree to continue working with partners to make the best use of new and existing premises for Severe Weather Emergency Provision.

2.    Agree to continue to investigate the possibility of the other matters covered in this report, with particular reference to effectiveness in meeting a defined need, and financial sustainability.

3.    Note that should additional expenditure be required to further the above objectives, a report outlining the proposed expenditure will be presented to CEB.

4.     Delegate to the Head of Housing Services the discretion to organise a conference of stakeholders with a view to exploring possible interventions and ways of working together to find accommodation and support services for rough sleepers.

The Head of Housing Services  submitted a report to respond to Council’s motion requesting officers to investigate “the processes or procedures that could be used to make empty properties available for use as temporary shelters.”

Cllr Rowley, Board Member for Housing, said that while no buildings had been identified for this purpose  at the time of writing the Council was committed to working with partners and to developing this area further.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Agree to continue working with partners to make the best use of new and existing premises for Severe Weather Emergency Provision.

2.    Agree to continue to investigate the possibility of the other matters covered in this report, with particular reference to effectiveness in meeting a defined need, and financial sustainability.

3.    Note that should additional expenditure be required to further the above objectives, a report outlining the proposed expenditure will be presented to CEB.

4.     Delegate to the Head of Housing Services the discretion to organise a conference of stakeholders with a view to exploring possible interventions and ways of working together to find accommodation and support services for rough sleepers

The Housing Strategy and needs manager said that the report responded to a Council motion and did not propose any definite actions at this stage but provided an update on work that was continuing.  The report identified three types of scheme that might be viable.  There were some empty premises in the city but discussions with landlords to date had not produced results.  The Council had an active work plan and if opportunities did arise then the Council would act but this route may be a dead end.

In discussion the Panel expressed some disappointment that no buildings had been found for any schemes and noted that:

·         The greatest need in the city was for additional severe weather emergency provision because there was a lack of suitable available buildings.  Plan B was to utilise community and sports centres at night but the Council would prefer a dedicated space.

·         There were some 300 homes in the city that had been empty for over 2 years and about 70 that had been empty for over 10 years.  The Council had sought to bring these back in to use but it was not easy.

·         Commercial properties were likely to be more suitable than residential properties for homelessness provision but it was very challenging to bring these back into use.

·         The Council and its partners were relatively successful at engaging with new rough sleepers.

·         Organisations in the homelessness pathway could exercise some discretion where people had no local connect in certain circumstances.

·         The future of Lucy Faithful Housing would be subject to a report to members in the near future.

The Panel endorsed the recommendations and agreed to request a verbal update in 6 months’ time.