Council opens housing scheme to cut homelessness

Luton Borough Council hopes the scheme will help cut waiting lists for council housing, which can be up to 10 years

A council has launched a scheme to help people at risk of homelessness find private accommodation.

Luton Borough Council's government-financed find your own home initiative was designed to cut council house waiting lists in the town, which can be up to 10 years.

The Labour-run authority said demand for housing assistance had reached "unprecedented levels", with the number of families seeking support rising from an average of 200 per month to 450.

Rob Roche, the council's portfolio holder for housing, said: "This is about families and giving them a decent home and if they have children, giving them a secure place to live."

Rob Roche from Luton Borough Council said he hoped the scheme would help people get help before they become at risk of being homeless

In Luton, more than 12,000 people are currently on the council's housing register, so the authority hoped this scheme will help some of them explore the private rental sector as a more immediate housing solution.

Roche said in the past people had "come to us with eviction dates" and they then had "to be put into temporary accommodation".

He added he hoped the scheme would help "get in there first before that happened".

A woman from Luton, who wished to remain anonymous, was one of the first to benefit from the scheme after being placed at first into temporary accommodation with her three children.

Her housing officer urged her to explore renting privately with council assistance instead and she now lives in a home close to her extended family.

She said she "needed to change for her kids and needed more structure and routine" and her "mental health was a lot better" in their new home.

Her children have "settled in really well and are pursuing their hobbies like cycling around friends and family" and they were able to recently celebrate Eid together, she added.

Matthew Bushnell from Mary Seacole Housing Association said he hoped the scheme would "alleviate stress and anxiety" over becoming homeless

The council worked on the scheme with the Mary Seacole Housing Association.

It creates personal plans for applicants, which look at their household size, potential disabilities, support needs and financial situation.

Matthew Bushnell, chief executive of Mary Seacole Housing Association, told the BBC that "homelessness can feel overwhelming" and that it was "quite easy to bury your head in the sand" if you were at risk of it happening to you.

He hoped this scheme would help "alleviate that stress and anxiety very early on".

He added that "if you are able to go through the private rental route" you are likely "to secure housing via a much faster process".