Every day at HOS is different, with our clients coming to us with a wide range of different situations and needs. As a result, our housing options brokers need to come up with a variety of tailored support. Here is our round up of some of the work we’ve been doing in October.
Olivia supported a client who came to us at risk of eviction, due to mortgage arrears. This client had been in the home for almost 40 years and was at risk of homelessness. Olivia went through a variety options with this client, before making an application to Access Ownership, a shared ownership scheme offered by Horizon Housing. This would mean that Horizon would own a stake in her property, and she would pay rent on their share of the equity. The client was accepted, meaning she was able to stay in her home.
Tessa supported a client who had been in hospital for an extended period, unable to return to her own home as it was no longer suitable for her. Tessa was made aware, by a sheltered housing provider, of a suitable property in a neighbouring local authority. Unfortunately, it proved difficult to secure an assessment by either local authority – one refused due to the property being in another local authority, the other refused due to the client being in another local authority. Tessa managed to negotiate with the property’s local council to have the property assessed, and an offer was made to the client to move in. She is delighted to be able to finally leave hospital into a new home.
Ryan was able to dispel some misconceptions about applying for social housing for one client. Every local authority has a different system – some have just one application which covers all social housing in the area, and some have many different housing providers, all with different application forms. Ryan’s client believed that by applying for one housing provider in his local authority, he had applied to them all. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case in this particular area, so Ryan supported the client to make more applications to ensure that he maximised his options.
Finally, Eve supported a veteran who had been private renting but is looking to move back to Glasgow with his young family after a relationship breakdown. He had also been given a notice to leave by his landlord. He didn’t know how this process works and wasn’t aware of the evictions ban, he just assumed that he had to leave the property on the date stated. Eve explained how the process works and about the evictions ban and he said that it had “lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.”
At HOS, our Military Matters service offers help to members of the Armed Forces Community. The service provides information, advice and support to veterans and their families on all of the housing options available to them. This work would not be possible without support from the Veterans’ Foundation.
Housing is a complex landscape, especially for those who are trying to access it. Our brokers are here to help to demystify the process.