Rooftop Housing Group | SUPPORTED HOUSING STRATEGY | 2021 - 2023

SUPPORTED HOUSING STRATEGY | 2021 - 2023

Our priority is providing quality, safe and secure homes with services and support to help you become or remain independent.

CONTENTS • Introduction • Our mission • What is supported housing?

• Our key drivers for change • Customer engagement and co-creation • Aims and objectives • Review

INTRODUCTION Our Supported Housing Strategy sets out a vision to provide quality, safe and secure homes with person centred services and support that focuses upon the ability to become and/or remain independent.

At Rooftop Housing Group we recognise that supported housing is crucial for our most vulnerable customers. It has a positive impact on quality of life, from both physical and mental health, to enabling engagement with the wider community.

We own and manage several supported housing schemes and services in both Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

Our supported housing includes schemes and services for older people, for young people, for people with learning disabilities or mental health needs, and for people fleeing domestic abuse.

• Prioritising schemes based on investment needs and value for money.

• A view on value for money.

• Options for schemes and services.

Our supported housing customers have provided great insight into what they value and what we can do to improve our service offer.

We have listened and taken their views into account, together with what we have learnt to set aspirational plans for continuing to provide high quality supported housing.

We recognise that customers’ needs are changing and this year we carried out a review to consider: • The profile and performance of the supported housing schemes available to older people and to young people.

• The effectiveness of our current service model.

• Existing and future customer needs.

• Key risks associated with the homes and services.

LISA

NICHOLLS

Housing Director, Rooftop Housing Group

OUR MISSION To ‘build great homes and support successful lives by being a better business’. Through delivery of our Strategy, we are supporting our strategic objective of Building Stronger Communities and demonstrating our core values:

WHAT IS SUPPORTED HOUSING? The phrase ‘supported housing’ is often understood to mean sheltered housing, or other specialist provision for older residents.

Supported housing is about recognising that not all residents can live independently without some additional support and assistance, and providing that support in an integrated way.

Supported housing is designed to meet specific needs, and in which there is a level of on-site support provided.

Supported housing at RHG includes housing for older people, housing for young people leaving care, for residents of all ages with learning disabilities, homeless people, those suffering from domestic abuse and for residents with mental ill-health.

For some residents, supported housing provides an opportunity to live independently within an environment where care and support is available, while for others it can provide a setting with more intensive support, as a route to more independent living in the future. Either way, supported housing is a vital part of fulfilling our vision.

WHY DO WE NEED A STRATEGY? • To respond to current and future needs.

• Ensuring current homes are fit for the future.

• To ensure our service delivery remains affordable.

• To ensure we develop the right type of supported housing.

• To ensure we can delivery social housing in a challenging funding environment.

• Keeping our supported housing safe and of good quality.

• To keep our supported housing providing value for money.

• To support working together to delivery more homes.

• To ensure that we’re continuing to improve through hearing our customers voice.

DEVELOPING OUR STRATEGY TOGETHER Working with a range of stakeholders and most importantly, our customers have been a key priority in the development of our strategy. We have taken into account the views of our Residence Excellence Panel and carried out a comprehensive consultation with our supported housing residents in identifying priorities.

We have taken into account the views of our Resident Excellence Panel in determining priority areas. Further work detailed within our Strategy will be developed in partnership with you, our supported housing residents, for example development of our new Supported Housing Standard.

In addition to this we have discussed priorities and aspirations with Gloucester City Council, Wychavon District Council, Gloucestershire Integrated Commissioning (NHS and Adult Social Care), Gloucestershire Supporting People (Young People’s Services) and Worcestershire Adult Care Commissioning.

We have engaged with Young People Service customers about their home environment and our approach to management .

Actions that relate to modernising facilities, feasibility studies, improving technology and our service model will be fully inclusive, our process will be transparent and residents living within our accommodation will be heard, involved and listened to.

Workshops have taken place with Housing and Support, Assets, Development, Finance, Housing Services, Service Charges and Marketing/Communications.

WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE Our Strategy aims to provide quality, safe and secure homes with person-centred services and support that focuses upon the ability to become or remain independent.

We will:

1. Develop quality supported housing:

• Build retirement housing in the form of bungalows and modern/contemporary sheltered housing schemes.

• Development of the co-housing approach for supported housing.

2. Actively manage our assets: • Actively manage our supported housing assets by carrying out feasibility studies, re-designation, disposal, reprovision and acquisition based upon the report findings and summary position (Appendix 2 and 3).

• Our supported housing stock condition information is comprehensive, and our planned investment programme reflects long-term requirements.

• Develop and deliver our new RHG Supported Housing Standard.

3. Focus upon technology

enabled management and support:

• Review our existing alarm provision.

• Enhance our service to include a range of technologies that will support independence, to include hard-wired and dispersed alarm provision and telecare products.

• Develop our use of technology to assist in efficient service delivery and improve accessibility.

4. Modernise young person’s services.

• Modernisation of our young person’s portfolio.

• Develop a consistent approach to service delivery through a model of intensive housing management.

• Develop a model for move on accommodation.

5. Rationalise care, service, and agency relationships

• Develop consistency in contracts, standardisation of specifications, reporting and monitoring.

• Review care/service contracts identifying differences/existing viability challenges and explore the potential to rationalise roles and the contracts.

6. Develop quality customer service, engagement, and support

• Work with our customers to develop a Supported Housing Standard that is for internal and external space.

• Develop a consistent approach to service delivery through a model of intensive housing management.

• Develop a new service delivery model based upon a platform of dedicated scheme-based support.

• Strengthen our approach to assessment and on-going monitoring of support needs.

7. Provide opportunities that

8. Ensure long term financial

• Social activity at sheltered schemes that focuses upon addressing loneliness and isolation, delivered through a range of partners.

• Scheme level accounting that supports understanding of the cost effectiveness of our services.

support health and well being

• Strengthen opportunities for volunteering.

sustainability and value for money

• Ensure that scheme viability issues linked to voids is addressed and where possible changes are made to manage the risks.

9. Ensuring our supported housing offer is fit for future • We have a clear supported housing offer that articulates our service offer, our approach, what to expect and how our customer can be involved.

• To extend our supported housing model to include homeless accommodation and support.

REVIEW The delivery of this Strategy will be monitored through the Housing Director with ownership by the Head of Neighbourhoods and Support, supported by the Leadership Team. We will report to Board and to the REP We will produce an Annual Report to Tenants on all activities and report to Board at the end of each year on targeted outcomes achieved.

For our most vulnerable customers, Supported Housing has a positive impact on quality of life, from both physical and mental health, to enabling engagement with the wider community.

Rooftop Housing Group 70 High Street Evesham Worcestershire WR11 4YD Tel: 07876800034 Email: enquiries@rooftopgroup.org www.rooftopgroup.org