Cornwall Housing Limited

Cornwall Housing Limited (CHL) is a company owned by Cornwall Council charged with managing and maintaining public sector housing (in the former district areas of Carrick, North Cornwall and Caradon) and other Housing related services (e.g. Homechoice and the Housing Options and Advice service) on behalf of the Council. The company is owned by the Council and any profits made are spent on improving housing in our County.

Project Background

The Housing Service provides a statutory service to any household seeking assistance from the Local Authority (LA) who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.

In order to comply with the relevant legislation (Housing Act 1996, Part VI, as amended by Homeless Act 2002), the LA has a duty to provide interim accommodation to any household to which it has a reason to believe may be homeless and considered priority need.

Bed and breakfast establishments have long been the default providers of emergency interim accommodation for Local Authorities. Cornwall Housing Ltd has inherited the arrangements of the District Councils, with around 30 providers of Bed & Breakfast accommodation across Cornwall that are utilised as part of the Councils statutory obligations in relation to the provision of emergency interim accommodation for homeless households.

The Housing Service has developed a temporary accommodation plan, which includes reduction objectives around use of B&B and exploring more suitable and affordable options. However, the service recognises its current reliance on B&B as a form of emergency accommodation and anticipates requiring access to an adequate supply of suitable accommodation for the short to medium term (e.g. the next 5 years). Cornwall Housing Ltd requires sufficient provision to provide interim accommodate to around 100 households at any one time across the County.

It has been recognised that there is not currently consistency in terms of pricing, standards, access arrangements and management across the service. Accommodation is usually sourced on the day, or perhaps a few days in advance, and is charged on a nightly basis. It is presently the most expensive type of temporary accommodation the council uses. Additionally, demand on the homelessness service has been increasing over the last 12 to 18 months with significant increases in the use of emergency Bed & Breakfast accommodation.

Additionally, because the vast majority (in excess of 99%) of all households placed in B&B rely on Housing Benefit to cover the costs of the emergency provision (less any Housing Benefit ineligible charges) there are financial implications for the Authority. B&B costs are currently higher than the Housing Benefit subsidy cap and as such every placement in B&B represents a direct loss to the Council in terms of subsidy loss (around 10% of overall costs are not able to be recovered).

Therefore, it has been decided that the provision of emergency accommodation is to be formally tendered in order that the Cornwall Housing Ltd can be both assured of the quality and extent of provision, and that it is achieving best value for the council tax payer.