I am looking to understand the costs of providing assistance to households who have experienced homelessness. This is so I can evaluate the impact of the work of homelessness charities.
I would be very grateful if you could please provide the following information. I request this information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
1. The number of private rented sector offers (PRSOs) made to discharge the authority’s duty to homeless households in temporary accommodation that were made by your authority in 2015/16. These are sometimes also referred to by local authorities as ‘AST discharge of duty’. Below we refer to these as ‘PRSOs’.
2. The amount spent by your authority on the following costs in 2015/16
• The amount spent on cash incentives to private landlords to secure their property for use for a PRSO.
• The amount spent on tenancy deposits for PRSOs. Please give a breakdown where possible between:
The amount spent on tenancy deposits given as a bond, to recover at a later date
The amount spent on tenancy deposits as a payment that is not intended to be recovered from the tenant at a later date
• The amount spent on upfront rent payments for PRSOs giving a breakdown where possible between:
The amount spent on upfront rent payments given as a bond, to recover at a later date
The amount spent on upfront rent payments as a payment not intended to be recovered at a later date
• The amount spent on any other payments given to private landlords (for example to cover rent non-payment or void periods) for PRSOs
If it is not possible to separate out costs in such a way, please give the total amount of money spent on the following for securing properties for PRSOs:
• Cash incentives
• Deposits
• Rent upfront
• Any other payments given (for example to cover rent non-payment or void periods)
3. The amount spent by your local authority on the following costs in 2015/16
• The amount spent on staff salaries to secure properties for PRSOs
• The amount spent on any other administrative or other costs involved to secure properties for PRSOs
NB: For all of the costs in 2 or 3, please include payments made from all local authority budgets, including from the local authorities discretionary housing payments budget. Please do not include costs paid for by housing benefit payments that are covered by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Devon County Council is not a housing authority and therefore does not hold the information you request. Housing responsibilities are within the remit of district, city and unitary authorities and we therefore recommend that you contact them for this information. Contact details for district, city and unitary authorities can be found on our website at: