Tenancy Sustainment Policy

1. Purpose and Scope

1.1. This Policy sets out how we will aim to provide the support needed to enable all customers to sustain a long term tenancy.

1.2. The key objectives of this Tenancy Sustainment Policy are to:

Identify and establish early interventions to support the sustainment of tenancies.
Ensure that there are appropriate levels of support to help our tenants maintain their tenancies and increase life chances.
Build capacity to develop skills for our tenants to manage their tenancies and meet their tenancy obligations.
Work to prevent and reduce homelessness so as to minimise void turnaround and void costs.

2. Definitions

2.1. Tenancy sustainment is an umbrella term to refer to the support we will provide to customers more widely to help them to be in a better position to successfully maintain their tenancy.

2.2. We define tenancy failure as a tenancy that breaks down within the first 24 months due to rent arrears, condition of property, abandonment or anti-social behaviour. It also includes where tenants are forced to terminate due to affordability issues, which can be directly as a result of the rent amount, or supplementary affordability issues such as fuel poverty.

2.3. The definition of vulnerability varies but from a safeguarding perspective it is simply an adult who is at risk of neglect or abuse. This definition includes self-neglect, which is when a person is unable or unwilling to care for their own essential needs and it threatens their personal health & safety.

3. Policy Statement

3.1. We recognise that tenancy sustainment activities begin before the tenant receives the keys to the property. Where appropriate we will work with the incoming tenant to identify any risks that could affect tenancy sustainment, for example, household budgeting, claiming benefits and assessing support requirements for our Independent Living (IL) properties.

3.2. We believe that every person has the right to a secure home. We recognise that this requires not only the home, but also the skills required to meet the responsibilities associated with maintaining the tenancy. Where appropriate we will work with and offer direct support to residents to ensure that they can access appropriate services to help them build capacity and therefore help maintain their tenancies.

3.3. We will work with external, specialist partners as well as our own employees to help and support our residents. A range of mechanisms may be appropriate and support required could range from intensive short term interventions to long term care and support packages.

3.4. We recognise the value to the business of successful tenancies both from a financial and reputational perspective. For example, successful tenancies will lead to sustainable communities and also fewer vacant properties and therefore ultimately lead to improved tenant satisfaction and maximising rental income.

4. Implementation

4.1. We will use risk matrices to identify and support vulnerability. One matrix is used before the resident is signed up to a tenancy, whilst another is used to identify vulnerabilities during tenancy. The matrices use different criteria to determine vulnerability, with various support options available depending on how ‘at risk’ we consider the resident to be.

4.2. Affordability assessments are also carried out on Affordable Rent properties to ensure that the prospective tenants are able to fully meet their rent obligation, or supported to claim welfare benefits where appropriate. Where welfare assistance isn’t sufficient, a referral will be made to the local authority or other external sources for debt management advice.

4.3. Frontline employees across the organisation are trained and supported in recognising potential sustainability risks and all are encouraged to report these risks so that we can seek to address the need. For example:

The Support Services Team delivers support through its Intensive Housing Management Service to help tenants sustain their tenancies and live independently in their homes.
Welfare Advisors support residents to maximise their incomes by providing assistance with benefits claims, debt advice and household budgeting.
Neighbourhood Managers support tenancies that are at risk through anti-social behaviour or other breaches such as hoarding and poor property or garden conditions.
Independent Living Co-ordinators support residents at our Independent Living Schemes, residents who are at risk of tenancy failure.
Rent Advisors approach rent arrears from a position of support and understanding helping tenants to budget and maximise their income and will only seek to evict tenants as a last resort.

4.4. To ensure that the most vulnerable receive adequate support we are in the process of updating our approach to safeguarding training for all employees. Safeguarding referrals will be made where appropriate in line with our Safeguarding policy and procedures.

All employees are aware of our internal organisational ‘Step Up, Step In’ (SUSI) initiative that provides a centralised location for employees to report any resident well-being or property/garden condition concerns. All reports are routed to the Neighbourhood Management Team, who are responsible for recording and acting upon SUSI referrals that are received.

Our Specialist Front Line Housing employees, for example Neighbourhood Managers, IL Co-ordinators, Intensive Housing Management Officers and Welfare Teams, will also work with other partner organisations and have established procedures in place that enable referrals to be made to these and other support organisations, such as specialist support for cleaning properties, dealing with hoarding issues, support with domestic abuse and support with formal debt management.

4.5. All front line employees will help provide a level of basic support to help tenants sustain their tenancies. In addition, there are established procedures to ensure that they can make referrals to any of the above where a higher level of support is required.

4.6. Our Specialist Frontline Housing Team will enable us to seek intervention in urgent cases to provide support in circumstances which are not anticipated above, and to co-ordinate and manage the referral arrangements. This ensures that the variety of ways that we deliver support to sustain tenancies is effective.

4.7. Where it is established that a property is deemed to be unsuitable due to medical needs we will actively consider the installation of aids and adaptations to the property in line with our Aids and Adaptations procedures.

4.8. We can offer specific support to those residents struggling to maintain the decoration of their homes and/or the condition of their gardens. This is via the ‘Assisted Decorating Program’ for decoration and the ‘Gardening Scheme’ for gardens, which is a ‘paid for’ gardening service, which we run in conjunction with Idverde – one of our grounds maintenance contractors.

5. Performance Measures

5.1. This Policy is supported by existing procedures. The Housing Services Manager has responsibility for the implementation of this Policy.

5.2. We will aim to achieve 90% of new tenancies being sustained after 24 months. Performance will be monitored annually by the Housing Services and the Support Services Manager.

6. Review

6.1. The Policy will be reviewed at least every three years to ensure that it remains relevant to the business and fit for purpose.

7. Impacts

Resident/Staff Implications - The Resident Forum Group were consulted during the creation of this Policy and have approved its content. All relevant employees will be trained as required.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - We will ensure that in delivering our services we continue to be inclusive and representative. This will be achieved through the application of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

Value for Money - We recognise the value to the business of successful tenancies both from a financial and reputational perspective. For example, successful tenancies will lead to sustainable communities and also fewer vacant properties and therefore ultimately lead to improved tenant satisfaction and maximising rental income.

Data Protection - All due care is taken to protect data held by us and in particular, we ensure we keep all residents data secure and comply with all relevant data protection requirements.

Accountability - The Resident Forum Group have been consulted during the creation of this document and are made aware of any relevant changes to its content.

Quality - We look to ensure that our residents are safe in their homes by supporting the prevision of well-maintained homes which are in line with legislative and regulatory requirements.

When things go wrong - Residents can communicate concerns through our formal channels: via telephone, email, our website or our social media channels.