Our Housing Options Team will try to identify housing problems to try and prevent you from becoming homeless.
We work with partnership and multi-agencies to support intervention you may need. If you are a council tenant, at risk of homelessness, your case will be discussed at a pre-Eviction Panel.
They will consider factors including:
- the impact of your condition on maintaining your tenancy
- if need extra support
- if a planned move to supported accommodation would benefit you.
We work closely with mental health services to identify people living in the private sector or who are homeless that need assistance with housing issues.
We have a duty to assess the circumstances of your homelessness. We will identify what your housing and support needs are, and to work with you to try to prevent your homelessness or support you to find you somewhere to live. We will provide you with a ‘personal housing plan’ which will tell you what we can do to help you and what you can do to help yourself.
For us to be legally obliged to provide you with accommodation, we would need to be satisfied that you are eligible, homeless, in priority need and that you have not made yourself intentionally homeless.
On the basis that you are suffering from a mental illness or impairment, we may accept that you are vulnerable and therefore in “priority need” for accommodation. This will be determined by your personal circumstances and will take into account information we gather from various sources including any medical professionals involved in your care.
We will continuously review the advice and advocacy services available to you. We will develop outreach support services according to your needs through the personal housing plan that will be completed in partnership with you and potentially your advocate.
Our Housing Options Team have received mental health training. They will support you to access advice and guidance from specialist services, who will provide a more in-depth support to you. In the majority of cases we will be exploring whether supported housing is the best solution to your housing need.
There are a number of supported housing schemes in Gravesham and these are managed under the Housing Pathway. Most of the accommodation is shared and has varying levels of on on-site support.