Council to no longer store homeless households’ belongings unless in ‘exceptional’ circumstances

A report on the policy change, agreed by the mayor and cabinet in October, said: “Once a household has been transferred to unfurnished property, the council should provide a notice under Section 41 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act advising the lead applicant that they should make arrangements to take delivery of their belongings.

“This was not routinely being done and as a result approximately a third (100) of storage accounts that remained open were for households who had already left temporary accommodation and moved on into settled accommodation, in some cases years prior.

“The total annual cost for these overdue accounts totalled £119,000.”

In addition, under the current system, applicants were required to pay £150 and agree to the terms and conditions of the storage service, including a flat-rate weekly fee of £2.

However, the report said these payments were “not routinely being collected from residents and were far outweighed by the actual cost” to the council.

During 2023-24, the total cost of the service to the council was £248,030.

The revised policy means that all homeless applicants will be asked to make their own arrangements for the removal and storage of their property in the first instance.

“We will not assume at the outset that the homeless applicant needs this arranged for them,” the report said.

The council “will only make arrangements for storage in cases where homeless applicants do not have the capacity to make their own arrangements to secure their property”, ie where the applicant is “particularly vulnerable and facing extreme hardship”.

“In these cases, belongings will be placed into storage for a reasonable period of time, rather than a flat policy of providing this service until applicants are moved into settled accommodation,” the report said.

Storage accounts will be subject to “regular monitoring reviews” to assess whether households still need this arranged for them.

According to the report: “Even where [Lewisham] does make arrangements to remove and store property, the homeless applicant will bear these costs.

“A manageable payment plan will be set up requiring the household to pay back the full costs over time.”

The council can still provide removal services to bring belongings to the new temporary accommodation or storage facilities, but it will charge for this.

According to the new policy document: “The applicant will be recharged any costs associated with removals, and making their own storage arrangements.

“Where we deem the request to be reasonable, and will prevent immediate risk of loss or damage to their belongings, we will confirm in writing that this discharges our duty regarding protection of their property.”

The change will affect both newly homeless households and those already in temporary accommodation whose belongings are in storage. The latter will have three months to make their own storage arrangements once notified by the council.

Lewisham has around 150 households with items already in storage under the existing arrangements, dating back to 2014.

The report said: “We will aim to contact these households at their last known address to inform them of the change in arrangements, and to give them a maximum time period of three months to make their own alternative arrangements for any items we have currently stored on their behalf.

“This could include their removing existing items to an alternative location and making alternative payment arrangements of their own, or their arranging for the disposal of items no longer needed.”

Following this, if households fail to make alternative arrangements, the council will serve a notice advising owners that they are required to make arrangements to have their belongings returned to them within a month, or they will be disposed of.

Will Cooper, cabinet member for better homes, neighbourhoods and homelessness, told Inside Housing: “Like the rest of London, Lewisham is facing a housing crisis, and we are seeing more and more people come to us for housing support.

“We are currently supporting more than 2,900 families and individuals in temporary accommodation, have 11,000 households on our housing register waiting for permanent housing, and we have huge budget challenges.

“As a local authority, we have a responsibility to ensure that any family facing homelessness is provided with accommodation and their belongings are able to be stored.”

He said the council recognised that “this is a stressful time” and that each household “will have different needs”.

“So, as part of this new policy, we will work with households to assess their suitability and whether they have any exceptional circumstances,” Mr Cooper said.

He said exceptional circumstances “may include” people with disabilities, or who were “older and frail”, or people with mental health needs or other vulnerabilities.

“We will also consider potential income/socio-economic barriers, particularly where a household already has financial issues.

“In each case, our homelessness assessment officer will work closely with the household to assess whether they have exceptional circumstances and find the best way forward. We will always make sure that the families are able to store their belongings.

“This change in policy brings Lewisham in line with the standard across other London boroughs,” he said.