A recent report by a coalition of Citizens Advice, Crisis, Justlife, Shared Health Foundation, St Mungo’s, Centrepoint, Independent Age, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), and Shelter reveals some particularly stark issues for people ready to move on from supported accommodation, including those living in our Access Project properties.
The aim of our project is to provide 2 years of safety, support and growth, during which a person can begin to heal from the trauma of homelessness and whatever led them to the experience in the first place.
We aim to help them develop a clear understanding of the benefit system, its limitations and the boundaries the system sets on their options and ability to affordably work (benefits rightly decrease as independent income increases, albeit at a rate that often leaves the person more financially challenged than if they hadn’t worked at all), as well as health and wellbeing support.
The point at which someone is ready to move on should be a moment of empowerment and joy, however, with just 1.9% of rental properties affordable for people receiving housing benefit, the options are incredibly limited.
There are around 166,000 single, working-age adults living in supported accommodation in England, at different stages on the journey beyond the need for support, and an average of just 125 affordable one-bedroom properties listed each week.
Just last week, one of the residents was among the 17 people to view an affordable one-bedroom property in a single day (They did not secure the tenancy).
The report surveyed members of the National Residential Landlords Association and found that only 11% of landlords are renting property at the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate, of which only 12% would re-let at the same rate at the end of their existing tenancies.
The price of utilities, operational costs and mortgage rates are cited as some of the common reasons for their reluctance to retain the LHA cap.
Although many landlords expressed a willingness to enter the LHA market on the proviso that long-term funding is a certainty, the LHA has been frozen since 2024 and rent prices have risen an average of 10% in the same time frame.
All of which leaves a group of people looking to move forward in their lives stuck, once again, on their path out of homelessness and into powerful independence.