Have your say on plans to end rough sleeping in Havering
Residents are being asked to comment on plans to prevent homelessness and make Havering a place where nobody needs to sleep rough.
Havering Council has set out its draft Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeper Strategy, which includes innovative plans on how to tackle rough sleeping over the next five years.
This includes early intervention, improved partnership working, supporting vulnerable residents and increasing the supply of affordable housing.
The strategy focuses on preventing homelessness in the first place, but also outlines efforts to reach out and assist people sleeping rough.
This assistance involves working with organisations to provide not only housing support, but mental health, drug, and other assistance to ensure that the root causes of rough sleeping are being tackled.
The plan consists of four priorities.
- Managing homelessness demand by putting homeless prevention at the heart of all Council work.
- Supporting vulnerable residents by working with partners to tackle health issues and other complex needs.
- Ending rough sleeping in Havering by 2022 by continuing to improve our multi-agency approach.
- Increasing the supply of affordable housing, as well as reducing the use and cost of temporary accommodation.
Councillor Joshua Chapman, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
“Having a place to call home is one of the most basic human necessities and we are doing everything we can to make that possible for all of our residents.
“To address current and future challenges, we have drafted a new homelessness and rough sleeping strategy which champions early intervention and increased support for mental health and well-being.
“This strategy and consultation provides a great opportunity to further develop an effective and collaborative approach to tackling homelessness within Havering. The strategy signals a move towards a culture where homelessness is everyone’s responsibility so that all residents have a safe, stable place to live, now and in the future.
"I am pleased to be sharing this draft strategy for public consultation and welcome the valuable insights and views of the community and our partners.”
The consultation is open until 10 February 2020.