Homeless Link plans to unlock 'housing bottleneck' » Housing » 24dash.com

The lack of available places to move is causing a major bottleneck for people working with the homeless.

But finding solutions will soon be made easier as a result of an innovative Homeless Link project.

Begun in late 2005, the Move On Plans Protocol (MOPP) pilot project involved local authorities and the voluntary sector in nine areas working together to gain a better understanding of move on need and develop appropriate solutions.

As the pilot project nears completion, certain key conclusions can be drawn:

Any plans to address shortages in move on accommodation and ultimately to end the social blight of homelessness must be developed and delivered in partnerships between the voluntary sector and local authorities. Before a strategic action plan can be devised to improve success with move on, a full audit of move on need must be done to establish exactly what the challenges are. Audits must include all homeless people in temporary accommodation (including non-priority or "intentionally" homeless people, as well as those owed a full housing duty) in order to provide a full picture so that appropriate targets can be set. Despite the lack of social housing (which must also be addressed), inventive options, including the involvement of the private rental sector, can be taken now to overcome barriers and increase the move on rate.

Commenting on the lessons learned from participating in the pilot project, Tim Carroll, Resettlement Services Manager, City of York Council, said: "If I could send an e-mail message to all my resettlement counterparts in other local authorities about the MOPP project model developed in the past year, I'd say the most important lesson they could learn from it would be this: In order to tackle homelessness in an area, local authorities and the voluntary sector must work together. Otherwise the entire process is flawed."

His voluntary sector project partner, Dave Knowles, Co-ordinator of York's Peasholme Centre, added: "We work on everything from rough sleeping to providing continuity for people who have moved into council accommodation. One of the things working on MOPP did was give us a much clearer picture how changes in one area can impact on another." 

Lessons learnt will be a central element of Move On: Unlocking Solutions, a one-day Homeless Link conference in London on Thursday, March 15.

Places are still available. For more information about the event, e-mail: events@homelesslink.org.uk