Mediation service to help cut homelessness by 10%

Ryedale District Council has put together a strategy to reduce the number of people applying as homeless by ten per cent by the end of March.

The strategy aims to encourage people to ask for help in plenty of time so a solution can be found before they are made homeless.

One of the major causes of homelessness in Ryedale is parents, friends and relatives no longer being willing to provide accommodation.

Under the strategy, people in this situation would be referred to a mediation service.

A similar course of action would be undertaken for people suffering a family breakdown. Housing services manager Richard Etherington said: "Mediation services can work with a family where a breakdown is creating significant risk of homelessness or where there is a potential for reconciliation.

"Mediation can also help clients come to an amicable arrangement about the family home or caring for children and, as such, can sometimes provide a way for people to resolve their differences without one party being forced to leave their home."

A homelessness prevention fund will also be set up to provide emergency loans to people who are struggling to find or stay in accommodation.

Council staff dealing with homelessness will be trained by the Citizens Advice Bureau on financial management and debt issues so they can advise people.

Mr Etherington said: "There are relatively few people who are literally roofless when they first seek assistance from the local authority. Many people have benefited from help that has enabled them to stay in their home or to find alternative housing.

"It is proposed to build on these successful approaches and offer a wide range of options at an early stage before homelessness actually occurs.

"There is likely to be continued upward pressure on the homelessness service and, as such, the council needs to be as innovative as possible in seeking to develop measures to address the problem."

The strategy will be discussed by councillors on Thursday.