Housing & Homeless Support Services for Midlothian 2024-29

Lot 1 – Temporary Homeless Accommodation Management & Support * Providing on-site day to day management of each of the Councils supported accommodation units 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. * Providing person focused support centred around trauma, being informed, empowerment, partnership, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity. This person centred support will be provided to residents in supported accommodation. Ensuring immediate support needs are identified and met. Ensuring people have the skills required to live independently. * Working in partnership with other services to ensure wider/non-housing support is accessible to those in need. * Ensure accommodation meets the requirements of the Temporary Accommodation Standards Framework.

Lot 2 – Tenancy Support Services * To provide a comprehensive and effective Tenancy Support service to people transitioning from supported accommodation to their own self-contained property. * Provide support to those referred to the service to prevent homelessness from occurring. * Provide support to those referred to the service to help set-up and establish a new tenancy. * Provide support to those referred by the rents team who are at risk of escalating action as a result of rent arrears. * Provide support to people to access wider/non-housing support that will help enable tenants with managing a tenancy, and support tenants to understand their rights and responsibilities that apply to the tenancy agreements. * Promote tenancy sustainment to support the wellbeing of Midlothian residents and sustainment of Midlothian communities.

Lot 3 – Housing First * To provide support to people with a history of long-term/repeated homeless whose experience of homelessness is compounded by additional multiple/complex support needs. To successfully setup and sustain permanent accommodation preventing future instances of homelessness. * To provide support using a model which adopts a person-centred approach focusing on ‘stickability’ rather than short term interventions. Populations in need: HOMELESS CASES/SUPPORTED ACCOMODATION * In each of the last three years Midlothian Council completed the following number of homeless assessments 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23. *Midlothian Council has eight supported accommodation units with a total capacity of 123 rooms. * Over the last three years the average number of people resident in supported accommodation is 74 (as a snapshot on the last day of each quarter). * As of 30th March 2023, there were 626 open homeless cases in Midlothian. * During 2022/23 291 permanent council tenancies were allocated to homeless households in Midlothian. Housing First Demand ARREARS STAGE * During 2022/23 296 council tenants reached the pre-court checks stage of the arrears process. Many of which may result in a referral to the tenancy support service to ensure compliance with legislation.