Homelessness, social housing and emergency accommodation

Access to homelessness advice

• We can provide advice about homelessness support over the phone. You should not come to the council offices as face to face appointments are no longer available.
• To book an appointment for a phone call with a member of the housing team please call 01424 451100. You can also use our online housing triage form.
• A housing officer will call you back on the number you give us, so you will not be charged for the call
• You may be asked to give consent over the phone for us to carry out further enquiries, so we can help you with your case.
  

If staff cover is significantly affected over the weeks to come, we will prioritise cases who are at the most imminent risk of homelessness. This may result in delays for other homelessness prevention cases and homelessness decisions being issued.

People living in emergency accommodation

• Current advice from Public Health England is that people should be provided with self-contained temporary accommodation if they are displaying symptoms, to enable them to self-isolate.
• If it is not possible to provide self-contained accommodation, guidance from Public Health England is that individuals with symptoms should limit their use of shared spaces.
• We have contacted our existing emergency accommodation providers to share government guidance and ensure they have appropriate measures in place. Many providers have already adjusted their working practices, including organising additional cleaning rotas and providing hand sanitisers for their tenants.
  

People who are rough sleeping

• There are currently around 15 people who are rough sleeping in Hastings on a typical night. We are proactively looking to accommodate rough sleepers in temporary accommodation.
• We are continuing the temporary accommodation we made following the 'Everyone In' instruction from government during lockdown while we continue to support people to find long term housing.
• The outreach team are continuing their rounds, and engage with known rough sleepers.
• The Rapid Rehousing Pathway and Rough Sleeping Initiative teams are continuing to provide support, e.g. ensuring people have access to food and other essential services. Officers carrying out outreach have been reminded to take extra precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting the virus.
• Current guidance from Public Health England is that day centres for rough sleepers can remain open, and our local providers are reviewing their own contingency plans.
• We have bid for additional funding through the Next Steps Accommodation Programme to provide move-on accommodation for rough sleepers and adapt our winter weather plans.

Social housing

• We are expecting turnover of social housing to be lower in the months to come.
• Social housing properties are now being advertised again through Sussex Homemove.
• If you already live in social housing and need help and advice, please contact your landlord directly.