Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2029

Our priorities for the coming 5 years have been developed through a process of engagement and consultation. We have talked with partners about the challenges we are facing in the city including the rising number of households requiring support. We have used feedback from customers to help identify what matters most to them and we have talked to internal stakeholders about the challenges they face in terms of their service areas in relation to homelessness and rough sleeping. This information, alongside our own knowledge of the current operating environment, has helped us identify the high-level thematic priorities which together with the cross-cutting principles will be the overarching framework for the Strategy delivery plan.

5.1 Early intervention and prevention

We believe that Everyone in Coventry should have a place to call home, we will minimise homelessness by focusing on early prevention and intervention to help people keep their home or move in a planned way.

1. We will move beyond a reactive response and focus on reducing individual and population-wide risks of homelessness across the city by providing timely, appropriate, and effective interventions to alleviate homelessness and help those sleeping rough.
2. We will work on building early intervention/early prevention approach with partners into all our interactions.
3. We will continually review our self-help offer via the website and self-help information available and ensure it is fit for purpose.
4. We will increase the awareness of duty to refer across the city and other services with regular stakeholder sessions to ensure customers get the right support at the earliest opportunity.
5. We will use our specialist in-house resources to increase visits to mediate with friends/family to increase prevention of homelessness and avoid the need for temporary accommodation.

We will work across the homelessness partnership to ensure we are making the best use of our resources to deliver Information Advice and Guidance (IAG).

5.2 Targeted and crisis support:

We will provide good quality accessible advice and support to ensure people can resolve their housing problems in a way that is long lasting. Where people do find themselves homeless and in need of emergency accommodation it will be of good quality, appropriate and conducive to their health and well-being. Targeted support will be provided for individuals and households who find themselves in crisis;

1. We will support rough sleepers across their period of homeless, ensuring rough sleeping is prevented wherever possible, that it is rare in occurrence, it is brief where it is unavoidable and re-occurrences or returns to rough sleeping are prevented.
2. We will provide a quick, responsive, flexible and creative approach to helping someone manage and end their rough sleeping and to be person centred, patient, persistent and creative in supporting people to maintain and not return to sleeping rough.
3. Where homelessness cannot be avoided, stays in temporary accommodation will be for as short a time as possible and placements will be suitable for the needs of the households.
4. We will ensure that pathways for all those that are homeless guarantee crisis and targeted support is available and accessible
5. Our provision of temporary accommodation will be sufficient to manage the demand and meet homelessness duties.
6. Temporary Accommodation will be suitable, to a good standard and procured to ensure value for money is achieved.
7. We will use Bed & Breakfast (B&B) accommodation when unavoidable and have the ambition to eliminate the use of B&B.
8. Our commissioned support services will be accessible relevant, and solution focussed.

5.3 Move on and Sustainment

There will be a focus on creating and increasing move on options for people and ensuring the right tools and support is in place to help people sustain tenancies once their homelessness has ended, our focus will not just be in terms of bricks and mortar but will also consider and reflect the wider social detriments that impact someone’s ability to secure and maintain a settled home .

1. We will ensure that there is targeted support for all homeless households to recover from homelessness and to secure and sustain settled accommodation.
2. We will further develop our positive working relationships with the private rented sector and supported housing Landlords to increase the accommodation options available.
3. Develop resources to support households to understand the various housing options available to them.
4. Ensure that individuals and families that need it, are supported to settle into their new homes.
5. Supported housing in the city will provide a basis for an individual to recover from homelessness, with pathways to move into independent accommodation where appropriate.