Homelessness prevention by The Bridge (East Midlands)

Independent Tenancy Relations service

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The context

In 2019-20, over 5,000 households became homeless from a private tenancy in Scotland - be that for landlord- or tenant-driven reasons. This accounts for 16% of all homelessness applications, suggesting a key target for prevention work. Indigo House’s 2020 research highlighted the weight many tenants place on good, trusting relationships with landlords; a low enthusiasm for official, legal complaints; and the value of informal dispute resolution services working with both tenants and landlords to foster and smooth those relationships.

Though less common than they may have been in years gone by,xiv Tenancy Relations Services provided or commissioned by some English local authorities can offer an instructive model. The service offered by The Bridge (East Midlands) has a particularly long history of positive outcomes.

The intervention

The Bridge (East Midlands) provides a dedicated Tenancy Relations Officer (TRO) service in the Charnwood area of Leicestershire, as part of the wider housing advice service commissioned by Charnwood Borough Council. The TRO advises and assists tenants and landlords with any area of tenancy dispute, including rent levels, disrepair, deposits, notices, illegal eviction and harassment. The TRO offers independent legal and good practice advice, negotiation, mediation, signposting and referral to other services where required.

The TRO’s role is to promote tenancy sustainment, improve property conditions and management in private tenancies and smooth landlord-tenant relations. Where additional input, up to and including enforcement, is needed, the TRO has ‘fast-track’ links to relevant Council departments, such as environmental health. Attempts to illegally evict can often be the result of a genuine misunderstanding by an inexperienced landlord. A TRO can often resolve this quickly through advice and guidance, though primary account is always taken of the tenant’s wishes, based on the possible courses of legal action.

The TRO also provides holistic signposting and/or referrals for tenants, including support to attend first appointments and ‘warm handovers’ to other services which The Bridge (East Midlands) offers, such as housing advice or support, where a tenant needs this. There is a consistently high demand for the service (which rose dramatically during the pandemic), requiring the TRO to introduce a prioritisation process. In the small number of cases where a conflict of interest arises between parties, another member of the housing team takes over advice provision for the tenant.

The outcome

In 2019-20 The Bridge (East Midlands) dealt with almost 750 housing advice queries, of which over half related to an imminent or future homelessness risk. Specifically, the TRO advised 91 private tenants and 20 private landlords. The TRO was able to prevent or reduce risk of homelessness and intervene successfully in a landlord/tenant dispute in all of these cases. 97% of tenants were able to stay in their original home. Importantly, property conditions were improved through TRO intervention for 83% of households with a repair or maintenance issue. 79% of tenants also improved their financial situation by using the service.

Key insights

• by providing advice and support at an early stage, solutions can be found for many common issues leading to homelessness from the PRS: any delay is likely to hinder a good outcome
• a service for both tenants and landlords focused on tenancy relations can improve communication and take the adversarial/accusatory edge off issues before each party has ‘hardened’ their position, often avoiding a need for lengthy, more costly court processes
• multi-agency relationships (with local authority teams, services which support tenants, and the wider landlord sector) are the core of the service – which is why a dedicated role really matters

Find out more…

Molly Boggis, Head of Programmes & Services, The Bridge
molly.boggis@thebridge_eastmidlands.org.uk