SOFT MARKET TEST: Localised Housing Options & Advice Services

The Council is exploring options for the delivery of a localised, community-based early legal advice and housing options service for all housing matters, targeted in the 3 Housing Market Areas of the City, where we receive the largest volume of homelessness presentations. The Council currently commission some services that provide homeless prevention support in local communities. However, the provision of this type of housing advice and guidance is limited, alongside services experiencing increased capacity. We want to ensure independent; early legal advice and options is offered much earlier than the 56-day legal Prevention Duty, with early guidance provided when a housing matter is identified. The aim of this is to proactively prevent situations where homelessness may occur and the subsequent trauma and stress this can place on households. In addition, the Council needs to reduce the need of households being placed in temporary or emergency accommodation, which is unsustainable for the both the Council and customers. The objective of this soft market testing is to eliminate the use of emergency provision by providing early legal housing advice and options, to prevent homelessness from occurring and cases progressing. This provision will provide a time limited service, offering early advice and guidance around legal, financial, and debt matters that could lead to unstable housing and homelessness. This directly supports the Council's Homelessness Prevention & Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-2028, which outlines our position on Bed and Breakfast and Temporary Accommodation and the action we are seeking to take with respect to this issue. The Council will be holding an online supplier engagement session to support this exercise between 10:45am-11:45am on Monday 3rd June 2024. Suppliers who wish to attend should register their interest directly with the Council via email to adam.elwis@sheffield.gov.uk no later than 5pm on Thursday 30th May 2024.