Atlas Housing Options map review – comparing messaging about approaching local authorities for help.
The Atlas includes a map that provides three quick links for each London Local Authority. Every four months the data is checked to see that links are working and correct. Becky Rice, Atlas project manager shares some reflections after the latest round of checks.
The Housing Options map was set up in 2022 on request of London Councils and Transformation Partnerships in Health and Care. This was to provide quick access to information about local authority housing options services for people who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness.
While all local authorities must work to prevent and relieve homelessness (including rough sleeping), the structure of each of the 33 websites are different and the information about these provisions can be hard to find. People who may need to access this information include staff in hospitals or probation services concerned about someone at risk of rough sleeping. Often members of the public will need to access this information for themselves or someone they know, but the Atlas website is largely accessed by and targeted at professionals working in the homelessness sector.
In our initial round of data collection each local authority was asked for links to information about:
- The council service for those at immediate risk of rough sleeping.
- Out-of-hours contact for those at immediate risk of rough sleeping.
- Duty to Refer instructions (for organisations who want to let a local authority know that they think someone is at risk of homelessness – for some organisations this is a requirement under the Homelessness Reduction Act).
The resulting database has then been maintained and updated by those working on the Atlas, and we also invite checks and changes from local authorities when we do a full round of data checking each winter.
In the latest round of checks all but one council website had clear and easy to find information about the Duty to Refer and how a professional can complete a referral. In all but one case it was possible to identify an out-of-hours emergency number, but these were not always included in information about homelessness – some were only found on more general ‘contact’ pages or with information about vulnerable adults.
The information available about what to do when someone is at immediate risk of rough sleeping varies a great deal. Looking at all 33 council websites the following things were felt to be helpful:
- Simple information that puts instructions about what to do and contact information near the top of the page.
- A page that includes emergency out-of-hours contacts within the main page about getting help when facing homelessness.
- A message that contacting the council soon if you are at risk of homelessness is best.
- Positive statements such as ‘you can ask us for help’ and ‘you can get immediate help’ featuring early on a page.
- Pages that provide information without the need to explore further drop downs or links
- Providing an overarching message before creating different messages for different groups.
The following felt less helpful and potentially off-putting:
- Lots of information being provided before the essential contact information and instructions, for example links to central government websites or descriptions of how little resource the council has (this can more usefully be provided a little later rather than right at the start).
- Text that makes implicit assumptions about people’s current situation, for example where it is assumed that people at risk of homelessness have a tenancy or assumes that young people are living in a family home.
- Content telling people not to leave the current home without caveating that this may not apply to those at immediate risk of harm.
- Lots of content about other organisations such as Shelter and direct access accommodation (which may well be full) ahead of information about how to contact the council.
- Providing a lot of information about complex processes and evidence required upfront rather than starting with an overarching message that people facing homelessness should approach the council.
- Friction in being able to report homelessness or risk of homelessness such as having to login or create an account, or a message that you have a maximum of 30 minutes to complete the initial contact form (which could be hard for people with a range of challenges in terms of reading, concentration and anxiety).
While this quick exercise is a data refresh, done by one person, and does not test the function of forms or phone numbers and emails cited, the process of checking all the sites is an opportunity to compare and contrast the content.
Overall, it highlights that some councils have an emphasis on managing expectations from the outset while others promote and encourage early contact. How this messaging impacts people’s interactions and onward actions is potentially an area for further investigation.
As always, comments and suggestions are very welcome and can be addressed to becky.rice@lhf.org.uk and gareth.thomas@homelesslink.org,uk