Preventing homelessness by sustaining tenancies

Tenants who are having problems in their privately rented homes can now turn to a new service for assistance.  Smartmove Housing is providing a tenancy sustainment intervention service as part of the Private Rented Sector Access Scheme, funded by the NI Housing Executive.

What is a Tenancy Sustainment Intervention scheme?

Smartmove officers can intervene in a failing tenancy and work with the tenant and the landlord to try to improve the situation.

The officer will speak with the tenant and the landlord to find out what needs to happen to sustain the tenancy.  This could range from helping the tenant apply for a discretionary housing payment to finding the correct floating support to help the tenant manage the property better.

Putting tenants in touch with the right support

Often, the best way to prevent homelessness is to look at the reasons for any problems in a tenancy and see how any underlying issues can be resolved. Among its other services, Smartmove makes referrals to Supporting People services for tenants who may need extra support in order to live independently. 

Paula Quigley, Head of Smartmove Housing told us about one of their recent cases:

“We got a call from an agency who’d been speaking with a young guy who said he’d been having problems with his landlord and wanted to leave the property.  The young man had let the tenancy get into quite a state and the landlord was, understandably, upset by the build up of rubbish in the property and concerned that the problems could lead to an infestation.  We spoke with the landlord, who agreed to let us try to manage the situation.  We’ve taken on management of the property and have secured a support worker for the tenant who is visiting him regularly and who has spent quite a bit of time helping him understand how to manage his home properly.  Several weeks on, things have improved drastically and the landlord is very happy with the arrangement”.

Referring clients for tenancy intervention

Agencies can refer clients to Smartmove if they believe that the tenancy is at risk.  If you are referring a client to the service, you need to contact a local Smartmove officer by email.  Your email should include

• the client’s details and a brief description of the problem
• the landlord’s details (if you have these) and
• your name and the name of your organisation.

Finding an affordable, privately rented tenancy in Northern Ireland

The Housing Executive funds the Private Rented Sector Access scheme to help people find affordable tenancies in the private rented sector.  Smartmove Housing provides this service.

When the Smartmove Housing scheme launched, it could only offer tenancies to those applicants who had Full Duty Applicant status and had been on the waiting list for certain areas of Northern Ireland for at least six months.  The access criteria have since been relaxed and Smartmove Housing can now offer tenancies to anyone in Northern Ireland who is over 18 and “tenancy-ready”.  Smartmove officers will interview anyone interested in the scheme to check that they are sufficiently prepared to take on a private tenancy and understand their rights and responsibilities as a private tenant. 

Demand for affordable private tenancies is high, so anyone interested in the scheme should contact Smartmove and ask to be added to their list of potential tenants.  Smartmove is trying to source suitable accommodation throughout Northern Ireland.  Landlords with vacant properties who would like these properties included in Smartmove’s database can contact Smartmove by email or call Paddy Gray on 079 2106 4799.  Smartmove can find tenants for vacant properties and offers a free tenancy management service to landlords.