Cabinet minister launches £3m 'Move On' accommodation scheme » Housing » 24dash.com

A senior Government minister will today launch a £3m-plus scheme to tackle a shortage of housing for vulnerable people in the North East.

Supported housing charity Norcare has invited Caroline Flint MP, Minister for Housing, to open its Move On accommodation project that will enable individuals to lead more independent lives in local communities.

The scheme is a first for Norcare, and the charity believes that it will act as a vital stepping stone for residents to find employment in the future.

The current difficult housing market and scarcity of accommodation has prompted the charity to take action to help its service users. There has also been discrimination on the part of existing housing providers which has seen good work to set vulnerable people on the road to leading a more independent life undermined at one of the final hurdles.

Norcare plans to address this problem by becoming a provider of move on accommodation itself. It is investing more than £3m in the scheme which will enable it to immediately begin addressing its own problems in finding appropriate housing for its long-term service users.

In time, it will also be able to become a provider to other supporting housing providers similarly faced with the pressures mentioned above.

Susan Bickerton, Norcare chief executive, said: “The availability of social housing has dried up as many landlords prefer to rent properties to tenants who they consider to be less of a risk. This has created a black hole for people in need of supported housing and we have moved to fill that void.

“There are two main issues affecting vulnerable people in the North East – accommodation and employment. Our core business, providing housing support coupled with the launch today of our move-on accommodation will begin to address that first need and make a profound difference for our service users.

“Today we are also sharing plans for addressing the other major issue – that of ensuring that vulnerable people have a real opportunity to gain employment. Whilst we will be particularly interested to hear from the Housing Minister what her views are on our move-on project, we are keen to draw to her attention that this will still only deal with part of the problem if issues surrounding employment are not addressed simultaneously for our service users.”

The Move On project will see Norcare buy up to ten properties each year that will then be leased to people currently using its services across the region. Norcare operates schemes in Derwentside, Durham, Hartlepool, Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumberland.

The project will be launched at an event in the Tyneside Cinema in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle.

Caroline Flint said: “Seeing the results of projects like this is always the most rewarding part of the job. Voluntary sector organisations like Norcare often lead the way, but all too often housing services successfully provide a safety net, but not a springboard back into a better life.

“I want to make sure that we are properly supporting projects like this, and learning from the experience. I want to see this kind of personalised advice becoming available to more people, not just those in crisis, and later this year I will be publishing a green paper setting out our ideas for a service which offers long-term solutions and can reach more people.”