Triage property solution to maintain stability and keep houses balanced.
Bristol City Council
How we helped Bristol City Council
Bristol is one of our largest areas for supported accommodation where we provide over 170 bed spaces for vulnerable people experiencing homelessness. To reduce the levels of anti-social behaviour and achieve more balanced homes, we initiated a pilot triage system with the Council that allowed us to better understand the needs of the service-users and better match these to available accommodation.
Challenge
Anti-social behaviour amongst our houses was relatively high and stable houses could very quickly become unstable and chaotic by the arrival of a new person, causing a negative shift in the balance of the house. Placements were made by the Council and we were not involved in the process of matching service users to properties. If we could better understand the needs and circumstances of the service users, we would be able to better match people with properties to reduce antisocial behaviour, warnings, evictions,
and achieve better balanced homes.
Solution
The Housing Network proposed a triage system to the Council to welcome and observe male service users during an initial assessment period. All males being accommodated by Bristol Council following a homeless presentation would be allocated a room in a triage property. Observing behaviours in the first 24 – 48 hours and understanding the service users’ needs, allowed us to make informed decisions when placing people into houses. The accommodation was opened as a male triage house in October 2022 and is helping us achieve more stability and improve outcomes for our service users.
“The Housing Network seems to genuinely understand the cohort and has the ability to deal with issues”
Housing Manager
Coventry City Council
“Your background and professionalism gave us confidence that The Housing Network could supply HMO properties alongside self-contained units”
Housing Manager
Coventry City Council
“We were comfortable using you to supply HMOs due to your background and our trust and faith in The Housing Network as an organisation”
Housing Manager
Coventry City Council