Homelessness in Cheshire East: the council have issued the following information.
Some of our residents are either threatened or experiencing homelessness and are some of the most vulnerable in society. Cheshire East Council has in place a number of measures to help people who are homeless or facing homelessness.
Homelessness
If someone is homeless tonight they can contact the team by calling 0300 123 5017 Option 2 or e-mail Homeless@cheshireeast.gov.uk. If someone becomes homeless at the weekend or after 5pm they can ring the out of hours number 0300 123 5025. If the phone lines are busy people can leave their name and number and someone from the team will get back to them as soon as possible. A member of the team will contact people to carry out a telephone assessment and discuss their options which could include:
- Hostel Accommodation
- Supported Housing
- Private Sector Housing
- Hotel Accommodation
- Mediation with friends/family members (where appropriate)
- Mediation with landlords
As part of this service the Council as looking at how people are able to get access to food. People moving into hostel and supported accommodation will have access to cooking facilities and staff will be able to assist with this. For those moving into the private sector they will have cooking facilities and we will be liaising with landlords to ensure new residents have what they need. When we use hotel accommodation we are asking for meals to be provided where possible and we are exploring other options to deliver hot food if they cannot be provided on site.
Temporary and Supported Accommodation
The Council has access to a range of temporary and supported accommodation across the Borough both commissioned and non-commissioned services. The team are working closely with all of them to ensure available accommodation is utilised in a way to best meet the needs of the residents. Some of this provision is shared but self contained units are available if someone needs to self isolate and the Council are currently looking at making further self contained properties available.
Prevention
The Council have issued a press release urging all families and landlords not to make people homeless during this national emergency. The team will be proactively contacting people registered on Cheshire Homechoice that could be facing homelessness to discuss their current circumstances and work to prevent them becoming homeless.
Many of our partner Registered Providers (social landlords) are currently not advertising their properties on Cheshire Homechoice but will be working with us to provide accommodation in an emergency.
Cheshire Homechoice
A notice has been put on the Cheshire Homechoice site explaining the situation and asking people if possible to e-mail with any queries to keep the phone lines free for urgent homeless cases. Anyone that rings up to have bids placed by staff will be given the option of having automated bids placed on their behalf as the number of properties will be far fewer in the short term.