Question Time
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Q&A EMILY DILLON Emily Dillon has a varied and challenging role as our Housing Strategy Manager. Here, she tells us all about it:
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What does your job as Housing Strategy Manager involve?
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What gives you satisfaction in your job?
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Are there any new schemes to tackle homelessness?
I manage the temporary accommodation, private sector enforcement and our new Let with Hertsmere team. I look for new and innovative ways to meet the borough’s housing requirements, such as working with our partners to provide good quality housing and using our enforcement powers to tackle poor quality properties.
It is my job to make sure our services meet residents’ expectations and, if they don’t, work out new ways we can do things. I get satisfaction from knowing I am helping to improve the housing options available to residents.
We have recently introduced a new scheme called Let with Hertsmere. It provides an incentive package to private landlords to let their property with us including a cash incentive or deposit bond, the first month’s rent in advance and fast-tracked housing benefit claims. It makes the process as easy as possible for landlords as we have a dedicated team here to support them and their tenants. The aim of the scheme is to reduce the amount of
people being placed into temporary accommodation, which is disruptive for the household and expensive for us as a council. The properties let through the scheme will be of a good quality and will provide accommodation for local residents in housing need. If you have a property to let and are interested, please email the team at: letwithhertsmere@ hertsmere.gov.uk
8 | Summer 2019 | Hertsmere News | www.hertsmere.gov.uk
Q A
Are there any schemes to tackle street homelessness?
Last winter we introduced a SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol) provision which means when the temperature dropped below 0 °C we provided a minimum of three nights of temporary shelter. We have also launched a No Second Night Out provision which runs