Homelessness Strategy 2008-2013

This is South Cambridgeshire District Council's second Homelessness Strategy and builds on the existing strategy published in 2003.

South Cambridgeshire District Council are required by legislation to undertake a review of homelessness issues within the District every five years, and to use this review to produce a Homelessness Strategy that addresses key areas of concern. The review is the result of work undertaken during 2007/08, including a major service user consultation exercise with private landlords, RSL's, service providers and previous customers, as well as data collection and research to assess the success of the previous Homelessness Strategy and identify any gaps in services which help to redefine the priorities and actions to be taken forward. The details of the findings are published in the review document which can be downloaded from the Documents Table below, together with the results of the service user consultation exercise.

Significant improvements have been made since the last Homelessness Strategy, including:

  • A substantial reduction in the numbers of households living in temporary accommodation. The Government set all local authorities the target of reducing the numbers of households in temporary accommodation by half by 2010, SCDC reached our target for this in 2007/08.
  • Minimised use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation.
  • Increased homelessness prevention. This includes new prevention initiatives including a settled homes scheme and a young person floating support scheme.
  • Introduced a sub-regional choice based letting scheme and new lettings policy.

The award to South Cambridgeshire District Council of Regional Champions in 2007 for homelessness further demonstrates the improvements in the service since 2003.

The new Homelessness Strategy (available to download from the Documents Table below) aims to address the continued progress the housing advice & options service wish to provide, national and regional targets and priorities, and potential challenges ahead, and the Action Plan accompanying the Strategy sets out how this will be achieved and will be subject to ongoing review to ensure continuous improvement.

Consultation on the Homelessness Strategy is an important element to its publication to ensure that we are addressing the issues that most concern South Cambridgeshire regarding homelessness and that the priorities within the Strategy are appropriate to the needs of the District. Stakeholders, including Registered Social Landlords, service providers, private landlords and parish councils were all invited to get involved with the development of the new Strategy.

Documents Table

Homelessness Strategy & Review 2008-2013

Service User Consultation Exercise (July 2007)

Due to the poor response from Private Landlords, a further survey was carried out on our behalf by King Street Housing Society - the result of which are available below:

Minutes of meetings held in relation to the Homelessness Strategy 2008-2013

Previous Homelessness Strategy 2003-2008 & accompanying documents

For further details regarding the Homelessness Strategy, please contact Julie Fletcher, Housing Strategy Officer on 01954 713352 or email: julie.fletcher@scambs.gov.uk

If you have any concerns about becoming homeless, please telephone the housing general enquiries line on 08450 450 051 or visit the homelessness / housing advice section.