Royal Borough sited as offering Best Practice

3 September 2003

The Royal Borough has been sited by the Government as offering 'Best Practise' to homeless households in the area. The practise is now being promoted nationwide and other local authorities are being urged to follow suit.

Most other council's offer a "one offer only - take it or leave it" approach. The Royal Borough has been offering homeless households a choice of solution to their housing needs and have found that a higher proportion of homeless households are being successfully re-housed in this way. Nearly 45 per cent of properties let via Choice Based Lettings have gone to homeless households.

By actively allowing households to exercise choice at the earliest possible stage, the housing department has cut down on the number of refusals, appeals and subsequent re-housing requests, all at no added expense to the Royal Borough. Feedback from users of the system has been positive and highlights improvements in transparency and perceived fairness in the letting of properties.

"I received information about available properties and was able to bid for those that were suited to my needs. I really felt I had some choice about were I lived, because I wasn't penalised for refusing a property. The system was also very simple to use and accessible outside of normal office hours", homeless applicant successfully rehoused via Home Connections.

With both the Council and the households concerned happy with the outcome of the scheme, the practise seems likely to be replicated across the country.

For further information contact Media and Communications.