Temporary accommodation placement policy

3.1     The Council  currently owns purpose built temporary accommodation in the district. This comprises just under 120 units of accommodation, mostly studios and 1 bedroom accommodation.

3.2     There is high demand for affordable housing in the district and there are typically over 3000 households registered to bid for affordable housing at any one time. In contrast, last year, just over 500 lets to affordable housing were made*. Households owed a main housing duty may therefore have to remain in temporary accommodation for some time, until a suitable affordable let becomes available. The Council may also discharge its main housing duty via a private rented sector offer however accommodation in this sector is also scarce.        

3.3     Homeless applicants owed a homelessness duty and requiring temporary accommodation will be placed in temporary accommodation or other funded services within the district) where there is availability and dependent on suitability for applicants’ individual circumstances including support needs.

3.4     Where there are no available suitable placements in temporary accommodation or other funded services within the district, either because full capacity has been reached, or because the applicant has needs which cannot be met in the available accommodation, the Council will source alternative suitable temporary accommodation which best meets an applicant’s needs and circumstances. This will include placements in:

• hotels - these are likely to be located outside of Welwyn and Hatfield because there are very few hotels locally which are willing to work with the Council and the hotels located here lack facilities for families. The Council has good working relationships with a number of hotels located in surrounding districts and boroughs;
• other nightly paid arrangements – both within and outside of the district; and
• short term placements in specialist accommodation - services outside of the district. The Council works hard to foster good relationships with services across the sector and in some instances, we may be able to source temporary accommodation with a specialist service elsewhere.

3.5     Demand for temporary accommodation is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. The availability and use of temporary accommodation is kept under review as an action under the Council’s Housing Strategy and we continue to explore options to increase capacity. These are, however, heavily dependent on the availability of government grant funding and viable local sites.

*See our website for latest statistics on local affordable housing lets