Residents’ experiences of Emergency and Temporary Accommodation in Hastings

We engaged residents about their experiences of living in ETA, how it had affected their health and wellbeing, their ability to access local support services, and if there were any barriers preventing them moving into permanent accommodation.

Key findings

Many residents expressed gratitude for having safe accommodation and spoke very positively about ETA staff and site managers, who were frequently described as kind, supportive, and willing to go beyond their contractual responsibilities. Voluntary and community sector organisations were also highlighted as providing essential support, particularly around food provision and support for emotional wellbeing.

However, we also heard about a range of challenges that residents faced. These included a lack of clear information about ETA at the point of placement; social isolation for some residents (especially people with children, limited mobility, or in out-of-town sites); digital exclusion (due to a lack of WIFI and phones); and some residents feeling unclear about what steps they needed to do to move into permanent or longer-term accommodation.

Recommendations 
From our findings, we developed nine recommendations focusing on:

• Providing clear, consistent and accessible information about the realities of living in ETA to residents, especially on initial arrival
• Reducing isolation to improve mental health and wellbeing
• Strengthening housing department engagement with residents to support progression to independent living or other forms of accommodation
• Considering site accessibility when commissioning ETA services
• Ongoing monitoring and partnership working between providers, commissioners and partners to deliver effective support services 

Response from Hastings Borough Council 
Hastings Borough Council who commission emergency and temporary accommodation across the borough provided the following response to our findings:

“It has been helpful to have the insight into resident’s experience of emergency and temporary accommodation (TA) in Hastings that has been provided by this study and report. 

The Council strives to work with accommodation providers who provide accommodation of a good standard that is well managed, and to provide a good service to people who are experiencing homelessness. 

The report has provided an opportunity for reflection on working practices and communication between the team, the accommodation providers, and the customers, and has inspired discussion on actions that can be taken to develop improvements.”

Next Steps
We will work in partnership with Emergency and Temporary Accommodation (ETA) providers, commissioning local authorities and other organisations supporting residents to explore how our recommendations may be implemented and ongoing improvements to support people’s wellbeing may be delivered.

We will also share this report with East Sussex County Council, NHS England, Care Quality Commission, Healthwatch England and others to share this insight and encourage its incorporation into future initiatives.