Policy and Regulatory
Committee
06 March 2019
File:
(19/278)
Report no:
PRC2019/1/50
Homelessness -
Council Contribution to Improving the Response to Homelessness in Lower Hutt
Purpose
of Report
1. To report the
results of the consultation conducted on the strategic approach to homelessness
in the city.
2. Seek
agreement to the proposals for the resourcing and implementation of the action
plan to achieve the aim and priorities of the Lower Hutt Homelessness Strategy.
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Recommendations
That the Committee recommends
that Council:
(i) agrees the
proposed strategic approach to homelessness in the city. This includes
changing the wording of priority five from ‘Improving data on
homelessness in Lower Hutt’ to ‘Improving the understanding of
homelessness in Lower Hutt’;
(ii) agrees the
three-year funding proposal in option one to contribute to implementing the
Lower Hutt Homelessness Strategy, of Year One: $560,000; Year two: $520,000;
and Year three: $520,000;
(iii) agrees to review the
action plan attached as Appendix 1 after the initial three-year period with
further funding considered as part of the Long Term Plan;
(iv) agrees to work with partners to
implement the initial action plan for the strategy; and
(v) agrees that Council
participates in the Governance of Housing First in the Hutt Valley and
Wellington along with partners including Iwi, non-governmental organisations,
local government and central Government.
For the reason that
consultation supported the strategic direction agreed by Council in December
2018. The amended wording of priority five reflects that, as well as
improving the data, we need to raise the understanding of causes, the
impacts, households affected, in order to more effectively target
homelessness.
Our recommended option aligns
strongly with the findings from the research in terms of the service gaps,
lack of access to settled accommodation – and therefore high use of
temporary and unsuitable accommodation – and the lack of capacity to
respond to the needs of people who are at risk of homelessness or who are
experiencing homelessness. The option includes the three elements of
contributing to increased access to housing, preventing homelessness, and
advice and advocacy.
We will work with partners to
implement and monitor the actions and a review of the plan will enable
Council to consider longer-term funding as part of its next Long Term Plan.
The Housing First Governance
Group being established by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) provides an opportunity for Council – through the Mayor –
to work in partnership with Government, Iwi, and non-governmental
organisations on homelessness responses at a regional level, both in terms of
Housing First and broader solutions.
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Background
3. The strategy for
working together to end homelessness in Lower Hutt sets out an approach to
prevent homelessness whenever possible and to ensure that if homelessness
occurs it should be rare, brief, and non-recurring. Council led the development
of the strategy and has agreed to work with its partners in the city and region
to improve the response to homelessness.
4. Council’s
research demonstrated that homelessness affects a wide range of households.
There are families with children, young people, older people, couples, and
single person households who are homeless in the city. Homelessness means
households are living in a range of insecure and unsafe circumstances,
including households sleeping rough or in cars, households moving between
friends, whānau, and acquaintances, and families
living in hotels or temporary accommodation.
5. Lack of suitable
housing is the major structural reason for homelessness. The indications are
that homelessness and housing hardship is likely to continue and increase in
Lower Hutt in the short-term. There is a limited supply of affordable homes and
making a considerable difference on this aspect is expected by many to take
around three to five years. Pressure on rented housing is therefore likely to
continue. As well as increasing housing supply, actions are required to improve
the response to immediate needs during this period.
6. Council is
continuing work to improve the supply of housing in the city. Officers have
begun work on a Housing Strategy for Lower Hutt which will explore ways of
delivering a range of supply, including for households at lower income levels.
This work will include looking at Council’s own housing stock and its
future role in housing. We have commissioned a housing needs analysis which
will inform this work, as well as the discussions that Council is having with
Housing New Zealand and Government on housing supply in the city.
7. Council’s
intensification plans also seek to increase supply and increase the type of
housing available to households in the city. Plan Change 43 that is proposed to
enable intensification in areas of the city is crucial in delivering a more
diverse housing stock.
Consultation
on Council’s Strategic Approach
8. Following
Council’s agreement to the strategic approach to homelessness, and
in-line with Council’s second resolution at the meeting held on 11
December 2018, officers have consulted on the proposed approach. The
consultation has included:
· a Public Voice Survey on the vision, principles, and
priorities; and
· hui and other meetings with partners and individuals.
Key
findings from the survey
9. 1165 survey
responses were received. There were 1,041 completed responses and 124 partially
completed responses.
10. ‘Working together to
end homelessness’ – 82 percent of respondents agreed with
Council’s vision statement. 43 agreed with the statement and 39 percent
strongly agreed with the statement.
Strategy
principles
87 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
principle ‘Housing is a basic human right’.
87 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
principle ‘Collaborative action’.
79 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
principle ‘Person centred’.
76 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
principle ‘Culturally appropriate.
Strategic
priorities
90 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
priority ‘Continue to improve our understanding of homelessness in Lower
Hutt’.
90 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
priority ‘End rough sleeping’.
89 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
priority ‘Continue to improve supply of accommodation and support.
88 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
priority ‘Preventing homelessness’.
85 percent of respondents agreed with Council’s
priority ‘Increasing supply of affordable homes to rent and buy’.
11. Comments on the survey
included a focus on structural solutions to homelessness i.e., the issue of
housing supply and particularly the supply of affordable housing in the city.
As well as collaborating with partner agencies to resolve homelessness, a key
action which respondents identified for Council was taking action to help build
affordable housing in the city. Full survey results are in Appendix 2.
Additional
points from the consultation
12. Participants in a range of
roles have questioned how Urban Plus Ltd. (UPL) fits into both responding to
homelessness and Council’s response to housing supply. There is a lack of
understanding about the roles of UPL as landlord and developer, the remit of
its stock, and any future plans for increasing the housing stock. Particular
points have included that Council should be directly involved in providing
public housing with a wider remit given the needs of whānau
in the city.
13. The need for Council to be
actively involved in facilitating the building of, or directly providing, more
affordable housing has been raised regularly.
14. As a result of the
consultation we do not propose any major changes to the strategic approach
agreed by Council in December 2018 and will finalise the strategy document.
15. We are proposing to change
the title of priority five which is currently ‘Improving data on
homelessness in Lower Hutt’ to ‘Improving the understanding of
homelessness in Lower Hutt’. This change reflects that, as well as
improving the data, we need to raise the understanding of causes, the impacts,
and households affected, in order to more effectively target homelessness.
Action plan
16. The initial action plan sets
out a timetable and seeks to improve the effectiveness of the response to
homelessness over a three-year period. The options presented to Council in this
paper identify roles for Council in contributing to the response. These options
include Council funding, influencing and advocacy, and taking a governance and
leadership role on homelessness and housing. The current action plan is in
Appendix 1.
Implementation of the action plan
17. In terms of the funding
options being presented to Council, Officers have undertaken work to develop
and discuss the actions and costs with non-governmental partners or, in the
case of the housing advice action, have based costs on an advice unit already
operating in Palmerston North. This work provides a clear basis for finalising
discussions with partners and implementing these actions later in 2019, with
funding available from 1 July 2019.
18. In terms of the broader
action plan, Council will establish an implementation group with partner
agencies to begin implementation.
19. For the implementation group
we would seek representation from agencies in the community and strategy
partners, including Marae, District Health Board, Regional Public Health
Council, and so forth, to take forward actions to deliver the strategy.
Given the significant proportion of Māori amongst those who are homeless
or are at risk of homelessness it is important that delivery of the strategy is
culturally appropriate. In order to ensure the strategy is implemented in a way
that aligns with this principle we will seek strong Māori representation,
including from Housing First providers. It is recommended that this group also
include members who have a lived experience of homelessness.
20. This would be an operational
level group and could report on progress to the Hutt Valley Governance Group
(HVGG) and the Housing First Governance Group (HFGG). Officers understand that
HFGG is likely to deal with broader homelessness issues and, with a
regional view of homelessness provision, would be a good group to which to
report.
21. We are currently suggesting
that the implementation group would be serviced by Hutt City Council in a
similar approach to servicing HVGG i.e., Council officers contributing to
progressing actions and coordinating actions. As the homelessness strategy has
been developed as a city rather than as a Council only approach the action plan
requires considerable input and engagement from external agencies. We may
explore future funding in order to coordinate delivery of the action plan.
22. The implementation group will
monitor progress against the action plan. We will also continue to work
with partners to improve the data on homelessness in Lower Hutt. Council
funded actions will be included in regular reports on outcomes and how the
action is progressing.
Rationale for Council action
23. Both data and reports from
agencies indicate that Lower Hutt has a growing homelessness and housing
hardship issue, with a consensus that needs are likely to remain high at least
in the next three to five year period. Council’s research and engagement
identified that homelessness was increasing in the city and that people were
remaining homeless for extended periods.
24. In line with the leadership
Council demonstrated in developing the strategy, Council needs to consider its
contribution to the practical delivery of the strategy.
25. Alongside the action plan in
partnership with organisations in the city, government, and councils in the
region, we are proposing a direct funding contribution from Council to deliver
actions in the plan.
26. Council does not currently
provide financial support for agencies that are assisting residents of the city
experiencing homelessness and housing hardship. The role and funding suggested
is similar to what other councils are doing, in terms of increasing capacity of
the local non-governmental sector, providing ongoing leadership, and working in
partnership. The funding would assist Council to achieve the priorities of the
homelessness strategy and also help achieve overall Council aims and outcomes
including “empowering brighter futures for those most in need in the
city” and achieving Council’s aims that Lower Hutt is a safe
and healthy city in which all residents can prosper in strong and inclusive
communities.
27. By instigating the strategy
and action plan, Council has indicated that it sees itself contributing to
addressing homelessness in ways beyond business as usual and in response to the
needs indicated in the research.
28. Contributing to effectively
responding to homelessness is also in line with the new wellbeing agenda and
working alongside government for better social, educational and economic
outcomes. Resolving homelessness and increasing housing supply are high
priorities for government and augmenting government’s work as well as
influencing its direction, and will be key in building better local
communities. Council has already signalled to government and the community that
it is keen to work in partnership and determined to work together and across
portfolio boundaries, to address homelessness and housing supply.
29. Partners such as Housing New
Zealand (HNZ) are also responding to need for their stock and the prevention of
homelessness. HNZ now has intensive tenancy mangers that identify households
whose tenancies are at risk, and who will bring in support to help sustain
those tenancies. They have strengthened this service by employing housing
navigators who help map the available support services available. Essentially
HNZ is taking a broader approach to its role as a landlord.
30. The thrust of
Council’s strategic approach is to prevent homelessness. In this respect,
the options proposed for Council to consider aim to improve homelessness
prevention in Lower Hutt. The main elements in the options are to:
· increase
access to housing;
· support
households at risk of homelessness to maintain accommodation; and
· provide
access to housing advice and advocacy.
Research and evaluation of prevention programmes indicate
that these elements work well as part of a proactive, as opposed to a reactive,
approach to homelessness. (Pawson et. al., Evaluating Homelessness Prevention)
31. A partnership approach is
required to respond effectively to homelessness, with Council adding value to,
rather than duplicating, the role of central government and the expertise of
non-governmental organisations.
32. Option one is our recommended
option. It aligns strongly with the findings from the research in terms of the
service gaps, lack of access to settled accommodation – and therefore
high use of temporary and unsuitable accommodation – and the lack of
capacity to respond to the needs of people who are at risk of homelessness or
who are experiencing homelessness.
33. The option includes the three
elements of contributing to increased access to housing, preventing
homelessness, and advice and advocacy. Rather than focus on temporary solutions
– although we will support government to find more suitable temporary
accommodation in place of motels – we focus on trying to improve access
to settled accommodation and preventing homelessness.
34. The prevention action
referred to in options one and two requires some further discussion between
LinkPeople, Strategy and Planning officers, the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development and Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, to ensure the
most effective implementation.
35. Option two includes
contributing to increased access to housing and preventing homelessness. Option
three includes contributing to increased access to housing and there is greater
focus on providing advice and advocacy in this option with Council funding at a
higher level in years one and two while still seeking partnership funding to
continue the service.
36. Options one to three also
include the business as usual actions that Council is already well-placed to do
e.g. strengthening its role of influencing and advocating for further housing
supply and improved government response to homelessness.
Key elements of the options include:
Access to
private rented accommodation with support
37. The impact of enhancing
access to the private rental sector will be both to provide people with homes
and, if needed, support to sustain their accommodation. The approach aims to
provide settled and suitable homes so that households are not faced with the insecurity
of temporary accommodation and the costs of this both economically and in terms
of health and well-being. This action corresponds to action one in the action
plan and aligns with the priorities of preventing homelessness, improving the
supply of suitable accommodation, and increasing the supply of affordable
homes.
38. Interventions that seek to
increase access to settled accommodation for homeless households operate in New
Zealand and internationally. Key elements of the models include building a relationship
with landlords and investors to access housing, provide owners with a free
tenancy management service, guaranteed rent, support for the tenant and
guarantees against damage.
39. This action increases the
staff capacity of a local Non-Government Organisation (NGO) to let properties
to households that are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and that have
difficulty competing for tenancies. The NGO has a good record of building
relationships with investors and is growing its access to housing. To be able
to effectively manage more properties and support households, it needs
additional capacity.
40. This action is essentially
a partnership between a local organisation – as well as other support
providers – with expertise of responding to homelessness, private
investors with a social motivation, and Council, which will enable households
to access settled accommodation in the city.
41. In the
current housing environment, working to improve access to private rental homes
can make an important contribution to housing supply for households that have
largely been excluded from the private rental market. This market is very
competitive and families on lower incomes or who have higher social needs are
unable to compete and therefore unable to secure this accommodation.
42. Both
research and practice show that schemes working with owners can increase the
supply of homes available to families. Research by Sheffield Hallam University
into the private rental sector and accessing it for homeless households showed
that over half of landlords who had rented to vulnerable households only did so
through these types of schemes. Half of homeless households said they would not
have tenancies without such schemes and a further 25 per cent said accessing
accommodation would have been very difficult. (Source: Reeve, Kesia, Cole, Ian,
Batty, Elaine, Foden, Michael, Green, Stephen and Pattison, Ben (2016). Home:
no less will do - homeless people's access to the private rented sector.)
43. In New
Zealand, the national organisation LinkPeople notes that 70 per cent of the
households they house are through these private rental schemes, with 30 per
cent placed in social housing.
Prevention
of homelessness
44. A clearly identified issue in the initial research is that the
high demand for services means that support agencies do not have the capacity
to focus on preventing homelessness and instead must take a reactive approach. The
aim of this action is to avoid the
negative impacts of homelessness on individuals, their whānau
and the community. Preventing homelessness avoids the social costs of
displacing families as well as reducing economic costs.
45. This element of the options
will provide capacity for an NGO to work with individuals and whānau
who are at risk of becoming homeless without early intervention. In options one
and two, it aims to prevent homelessness for a minimum of 100 households per
year. The focus is on targeting households – mainly families with
children – that are at risk of homelessness and providing support to
ensure that they do not lose their accommodation. The service will link whānau to the services and support in the community that
may help resolve their challenges. The cost includes a ‘flexi fund’
that can be used to help resolve threats to the tenancy, whether it is paying
off a small debt, help with maintenance, or purchasing items that cannot be
accessed through other services. This action fits with MBIE’s Tenancy
Services Better Housing Outcomes programme and there is a possibility of
working in partnership with the Ministry in this respect.
46. Preventing
homelessness is the focus of homelessness strategies at local and national
levels in New Zealand and internationally. There are a range of costs incurred
when households become homeless e.g. the direct costs of emergency housing;
costs to the household and the insecurity of the situation; children moving
schools; moving between health services; and the impact on individual and household
health and well-being, employment, and family relationships. Research by the
University of Otago indicates that the cost of someone being homeless in New
Zealand for a year is $65,000. This includes emergency housing costs, mental
health services and so forth. During the September quarter of 2018, the average
cost just to place one homeless household from Lower Hutt in hotel
accommodation was $5,600.
Housing advice and advocacy
47. Housing advice and advocacy
is a key component of interventions to prevent homelessness. It provides
households with the information, advice and advocacy they need to help address
their housing or homelessness issues or prevent households becoming homeless.
Elements of advice services include:
· housing
advice to empower clients to take action themselves or through referrals to
other organisations;
· prevention
of homelessness through direct intervention; and
· assistance
to clients to secure accommodation.
48. The lack of housing advice and advocacy is a clear finding from
the research and engagement undertaken. Non-housing organisations spend
considerable time dealing with housing issues prior to being able to assist
people with their core work e.g. support to access training, education,
employment, or improving health and well-being.
49. The proposed action is based
on the model of Palmerston North Housing Advice Centre. This is a
not-for-profit organisation which offers housing advice, advocacy and tenant
enquiries. The centre works with a range of people including those with complex
needs who are seeking housing in a very difficult rental market. They help
people to identify the barriers to accessing rental accommodation and help with
ways to overcome them.
50. Our costing for this action
is based on the costs for 2017-2018, however with a slight increase in order to
enable their two staff members to be on at the same time both for staff safety
and to increase their capacity to act as an advocate when needed. The centre
currently has two part time staff members who collectively work 41 hours a
week, and with this capacity they helped 1,890 households directly and 37,966
indirectly e.g. access through their website or Facebook. This action begins
with Council funding initially but we will look for partnership funding to
increase the capacity and capability of the service.
51. This action will require
further specific work to determine the location of the service and possible
host organisation. As we are proposing that Council fund this action, this work
will be done by officers in conjunction with the implementation group. The
group will continue to engage with community working in this area to ensure the
advice and advocacy is delivered from accessible locations and in the most
appropriate manner for those using it.
Additionally, as part of implementing the action plan
Council would support:
Housing First
52. Council will support
government and partners with Housing First – an intervention which will
address street homeless households, who are amongst the most socially excluded
in the city. We recommend that Council supports government and partners in
delivering Housing First through the planned Governance Group, and continues to
explore means of supporting the work to end rough sleeping with Ministry of
Housing and Urban Development and the partners delivering both programmes as
they are implemented in the city.
53. The two Housing First
proposals, made respectively by a collective of agencies led by The Downtown
Community Ministry and Kahungunu Ki Poneke, are at different stages of
development. The collective’s proposal has been submitted and we
understand that delivery in Wellington City is expected to begin in May 2019.
We do not know when the service will be extended to Lower Hutt or the Hutt
Valley. Kahungunu Ki Poneke’s Housing First service is also expected
later in 2019.
54. We are exploring how we can
support the providers in practice e.g. through supporting the identification of
housing supply which could include UPL if Council agrees to this in the future,
and assisting providers with locations from which to work and so forth.
Influencing and advocacy
55. As part of the action plan
Council will also continue to strengthen its key role of influencing central
government to improve housing supply in the city as well as services for
households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Understanding homelessness
56. Improving data on
homelessness and housing hardship in the city. This includes the quality of the
data and information available on the use of transitional housing, length of
stay, move-on information and so forth. The Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development is also conducting work to understand the information and research
required to help target homelessness services. Officers are meeting the
Ministry to discuss this work further.
Emergency
provision over winter/spring 2019
57. This action is being
progressed in recognition that Housing First will not be operating in Lower
Hutt before this winter, and that our whānau who
are currently sleeping rough need an alternative in the interim.
58. As a temporary measure, we
are looking at using the cricket pavilion at Fraser Park. This is currently
being led by our Community Services team with support from officers in Strategy
and Planning and is covered by existing money.
59. Although a night shelter
type option is not in line with our strategic priorities or the Housing First
approach, following advice from those working directly with people who are
sleeping rough and people with lived experience, it is required for some people
in the current situation.
60. To be viable, the facility
will need staff with relevant expertise to provide support. We are currently
exploring this with the Salvation Army. People using the facility would also be
linked to other support, e.g. mental health providers and housing support.
Options
Option 1
Year One: $560,000; Year two: $520,000; and Year three:
$520,000
· Access to private rented accommodation with support =
$110,000 (three years).
· Prevention of homelessness – project working
with a minimum of 100 at-risk households per year = $370,000 (three years).
· Provide housing advice and advocacy = $80,000 in the
first year, $40,000 in year two and three. Council will also explore support in
terms of office location e.g. in a Community House, if required, as well as IT
and hardware support.
· The funding decrease is dependent on securing
partnership funding. If this funding cannot be secured, funding for year two
will remain at $80,000 to allow further work to seek partnership funding.
Option one is the recommended
option.
Option 2
Years one, two and three:
$480,000 per year.
· Access to private rented accommodation with support =
$110,000 (three years).
· Prevention of homelessness – project working
with a minimum of 100 at-risk households per year = $370,000 (three years).
Option 3
Year one: $310,000; Year two:
$310,000; and Year three: $220,000.
· Access to private rented accommodation with support =
$110,000 (three years).
· Provide housing advice and advocacy = $200,000 in year
one and two, and $100,000 in year three. Council will also explore support in
terms of office location e.g. in a Community House if required, as well as IT
and hardware support.
Option 4
· Status
Quo. Continue to use Council’s levers and networks to: influence and
advocate for improved responses to homelessness and explore process barriers.
Business as usual actions to
accompany all of the options set out below, include:
· Explore policy approaches to incentivise delivery of
affordable housing in the city e.g. development contributions.
· Explore Council’s consents processes to review
possible barriers to developing affordable housing.
· Focus on the supply of affordable homes –
through housing strategy, plan change 43, and actions from the housing strategy
that aim to increase the supply of affordable homes.
Consultation
61. Consultation is not
applicable.
Financial
Considerations
62. Financial considerations are
included within the report.
Other
Considerations
63. In making this
recommendation, officers have given careful consideration to the purpose of
local government in section 10 of the Local Government Act 2002. Officers
believe that this recommendation falls within the purpose of local government
in that it responds to Council’s direction to officers to develop a
Homelessness Strategy to address homelessness issues in the city. It does this
in a way that is cost-effective because it recommends actions Council can take
that consider Council’s budgetary constraints.
Appendices
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No.
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Title
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Page
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1⇩
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Action plan
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18
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2⇩
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Consultation survey
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26
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Author:
John Pritchard
Principal Research and Policy Advisor
Author: Olivia Miller
Policy Advisor
Reviewed By: Wendy Moore
Divisional Manager, Strategy and Planning
Approved By: Tony Stallinger
Chief Executive
