Housing Justice have been announced as one of the winners of the London Homelessness Awards 2024. We asked Lucien Lawrence, the Special Projects Coordinator at Housing Justice to tell us more about his role.
My role is in part to ensure that there is a large volume of resettlements from Night Shelters across London into the Private Rented Sector.
Presently, this is through the administration and development of our GLA supported project: The London Lettings Network.
Using AI, we collate all the intelligence we have on new properties that accept Housing Benefit and upload them onto the Lettings Network, so that any user can see what is available to them or their clients in real time.
When a homeless individual visits the property and the landlord/agent accepts them, they then submit an application for upfront costs . We then check the documents that we expect of them. This is one of the more challenging aspects of the resettlement process, as regulations are now very detailed and vary from borough to borough. On occasion, we have succeeded in getting the landlord/agent to acquire certain required documents they did not have before, and we have also on occasion prevented clients from going into unregulated, unlicenced properties.
The London Lettings Network was conceived as a way to finally list all property that accept Housing Benefit in London into one single, easy to use website that could be accessed by caseworkers and their clients. A “Rightmove” for the Homeless sector. It lists on average 80-100 properties a day and supplies the upfront costs required to secure the property during the Shelter season. It has housed over 85 people since its inception.
Many years ago, in a hostel I managed in Brent, my team and I worked together on a very early version of what has now evolved into the Lettings Network by copying and pasting all the information we got via email on property that accepted Housing Benefit and put them into a mailing list that was sent out to the clients in the hostel.
It was an uplifting experience to see the clients take agency, look through the emails and arrange viewings themselves using this information. It was incredibly heartening to see them go to viewings together, supporting each other and demonstrating that with the necessary means they would take control of their future, rather than being reliant on others. I always thought this is how it should be for everyone experiencing homelessness: The freedom to take control, to not be solely reliant on their caseworker, and having the ability to choose their route out of homelessness.
Our goal is for this website to replace the current mailing list system, which can be uneven and unfair. Right now, different organisations get property information from landlords, but not everyone receives the same updates. Some may have access to many properties, while others have very few, and some people, like homeless individuals, may have none. This website ensures that everyone has equal access to all available properties in one place, acting as the most comprehensive source of information that the sector has on property that is available to those who are homeless.
The Lettings Network represents a step toward a more connected future, where property information is shared openly, making it easier for caseworkers and homeless individuals to find housing that meets their needs.
By breaking down the barriers within the homeless sector and encouraging the sharing of estate agent and landlord contacts, we’re promoting a more collaborative and open approach. This is not a zero-sum game—by sharing resources, we all stand to gain. Although sector partners may lose the exclusive access they currently have to properties that only they know about, they will gain information on new providers they may not have learnt about. And sharing this information can only benefit homeless individuals outside of their service across London, who may have been unaware of a property if it was not listed for everyone to see.
We are very grateful that Housing Justice and the GLA have provided this opportunity to develop this platform, fulfilling this long-term ambition to create a website that can finally bring all the Private Sector routes out of homelessness to the surface, to anyone who needs it.
For more information about the network go to https://lettingsnetwork.housingjustice.org.uk/