Homelessness Prevention

If you are homeless, or at risk of losing your home, the Housing Options Team can offer advice and assistance. Contact our freephone 08000 855889.

If you are concerned about your housing situation, need advice on benefits, or are a landlord and want advice regarding a tenant please call the Housing Options Team our freephone number 08000 855889

To assist with finding accommodation in the private sector a list of management agents details (Word document, 42kb) has been produced. The team is also keeping a list of private sector properties that are available for letting and is promoting our new Direct Lettings Scheme.

If you would like any of the team to speak at a meeting or to attend a group to explain the services that we provide please contact Karen Hill, Strategic Housing Manager at karen.hill@north-norfolk.gov.uk

Homelessness and Housing Youth Education Project

As part of the Council's Strategic Housing Service's homelessness prevention work a Youth Education Project in High Schools in the District has commenced. This work is being funded by the Homeless Prevention Grant from the ODPM.

The aim of the project is to educate young people between the ages of 14 and 16 about the realities of housing and homelessness and just how difficult it can be when you are young to obtain accommodation.

A Drama Practioner has worked with the Strategic Housing Service to formulate a drama workshop. The workshop starts with a monologue by the Drama Practioner. This tells the story of a 16 year old girl called Sarah who becomes homeless due to problems with her family and step-mother. It goes through staying with friends to sleeping in a car to being street homeless to stealing a bottle of sprits and being arrested. From this the young people are asked to give their views on homelessness and some of the stigmas attached to this. An example statement is 'all homeless people are druggies'. The young people are then asked to explain their opinions.

Following this the young people are asked to imagine how Sarah's life might turn out and in groups of four perform a life picture explaining their thoughts, anything from seeing her at home with her own family or being involved with drugs and at risk of dying.

The end of the session is a question and answer session with a member of the Strategic Housing Team who will attend all the sessions and packs of advice information are given out.

Cromer, North Walsham, Wells Next the Sea and Fakenham High Schools have signed up for sessions throughout February and March 2005. It is hoped with continued funding and demand from the schools that this work will continue on an annual basis and be extended to target the wider community. A presentation has been made to the Council's Homeless Forum and to the Sheringham little theatre youth group, who were the first ones to have the full session. We have had very positive feedback from the young people who had no real idea about the realities of homelessness.

For further details or to arrange a session for a school or youth group within North Norfolk please contact the Housing Options Team on our freephone number 08000 855889