Changing practice - the Private Rented Sector programme

Client: London Housing Foundation
Partners: Web Euphoria, Off the Streets and Into Work, Crisis, Resource Information Service

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The aims

Between 2006 and 2008, the London Housing Foundation ran a programme aimed at encouraging homelessness services to make greater use of the private rented sector to find housing solutions for hostel residents.

Traditionally, homelessness agencies and hostel residents have been unwilling to use the private rented sector due to a range of real and perceived barriers.

The Foundation’s programme was aimed at understanding the barriers, learning from success stories, alleviating residents’ and keyworkers’ concerns and enabling practitioners’ to share their knowledge and expertise in this area.

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Branding

Branding by Jellymould Creative

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The Private Rented Sector Website

We worked with programme manager Harmit Kambo to determine the best way to communicate the Foundation’s goals and share knowledge and best practice. The result was the Private Rented Sector Website, which is the only one-stop-shop for this topic.

It combines news, articles and a resource library with a directory of schemes using the PRS in London - a collaboration with Crisis and Resource Information Service.

Since its launch, more than 500 people have subscribed to the website’s newsletter which is sent infrequently to highlight new content and reports.

We are currently helping to facilitate the migration of the website to the Foundation’s partners Crisis in order to ensure this great resource is retained and continues to develop.

Information architecture by Harmit Kambo (London Housing Foundation) and Jo Johnson (Jellymould Creative)
Design by Emile Facey (Jellymould Creative)
Development by Web Euphoria for Jellymould Creative
PRS Schemes by Resource Information Service

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A video

Renting a Flat in the Private Rented Sector

Hostel residents themselves have a number of fears about private rented sector housing. They worry about tenancy security, about the higher rent, raising deposits and whether they will be accepted by discerning landlords.

In 2008, we worked with Harmit to develop a video aimed at hostel residents which endeavoured to demystify and inspire them to consider PRS housing.

The interview centred on an interview with Danny, a former hostel resident who found his own PRS flat when he became frustrated with the speed of his resettlement.

The video was made available online, uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo, and then embedded on the website home page. The Foundation made 200 DVDs available for free and orders flooded in as soon as it was advertised.

Staff in the sector grabbed the film with both hands. It was used in a multitude of ways, from conferences, team meetings, at residents meetings and as staff training and therefore enabled the Foundation to spread its message far more widely than it could have done otherwise.

Consultancy by Bea Brennan, Emile Facey and Jo Johnson of Jellymould Creative
Filmed by Bea Brennan, Emile Facey (Jellymould Creative)
Interviews by Harmit Kambo (London Housing Foundation)
Inspiring words by Danny
Edited by Bea Brennan (on a voluntary basis - thank you!)
DVD menu and production by Mark Little for Jellymould Creative

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A DIY guide for hostel residents

The final asset to this programme is Your Passport to Renting a Private Home, a guide for hostel residents to help them consider and find a private flat and giving them advice on what paperwork and other factors are essential in order to get accepted by a landlord.

The design concept was developed at an ideas meeting with the programme manager and co-author, and Claire Smith, the co-author of the guide and coach from the Transitional Spaces Project, a scheme aimed at helping hostel residents move on to their own homes, and Jo Johnson and Emile Facey from Jellymould.

Jellymould recommended that the design of this guide was accessible to people with learning disabilities and incorporated guidance from Mencap and the RNIB. This resulted in a simple, spacious design, despite budget constraints using colour and call outs to break up the text. The colours used are grown up but energising and fun - the goal was to inspire and reassure and we feel the design does this.

The copy for the guide was edited ruthlessly by Jellymould’s Harriet Powney, in order to ensure it was jargon-free, clear and readable by those with learning disabilities.

On seeing the guide, one coach said, “You’re giving us the tools. This is like being given the three-chords in punk rock! People can now do it themselves, they don’t need to rely on hostel staff to move-on.”

“I think the design is excellent and am really pleased with it. I think it is really readable and the check list looks great at the back. It’s a really good piece of work all round and I’m really proud of it.”

Claire Smith
Coach and co-author of “Your Passport to Renting a Private Home”
Off the Streets and into Work

Designed by Emile Facey (Jellymould Creative)
Edited by Harriet Powney (Jellymould Creative)
Written by Harmit Kambo (London Housing Foundation) and Claire Smith (Off the Streets and into Work)
Cover photo by Harmit Kambo