Norwich Home Options Allocation Scheme

Norwich Hostel Move-on Agreement 2025

1. The agreement

This agreement is made between:

• Norwich City Council
• YMCA Norfolk
• St Martins Housing Trust
• Sanctuary Supported Living
• Hinde House (Orwell Housing Association)
• Hope into Action
• Stonham Home Group

(herein referred to as "the parties")

The parties wish to co-operate in order to establish and maintain a hostel move-on scheme.

The parties have agreed to enter into this agreement to record their respective intentions.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide a co-ordinated route into and out of hostel and supported accommodation services in Norwich.

The parties agree as follows:

2. Objectives

The agreed objectives are as follows:

• To reduce rough sleeping and homelessness in Norwich.
• To operate the scheme so that those in greatest need can access hostel accommodation quickly and easily.
• To provide a co-ordinated hostel system in Norwich which makes best use of its resources.
• To enable clients to move through different stages of supported accommodation to best meet their needs. The parties will need to create robust move on plans to support internal moves.
• To ensure all hostel clients can move on with the appropriate support to ensure sustainability.
• Comply with attendance at the monthly Norwich Accommodation Meetings.

The parties agree to co-operate fully with each other for the achievement of these objectives.

3. The process

Nominations arrangements:

• An initial assessment of the client’s needs, and potential accommodation outcomes will be considered by the parties as part of the referral process and will be ongoing.  Issues such as social care needs, local connection and potential for move-on will be considered as part of the assessment.  
• Where agreed, clients can be moved between providers to prevent eviction or whether alternative provision is deemed more appropriate.
• Following assessment, homeless and individuals sleeping rough will be referred into accommodation appropriate to their needs.
• Clients can be moved between provision where it is agreed by the Norwich Accommodation Meeting and the providers.
• Individual services retain the right the refuse a referral should they deem the risk too high.
• Vacancies created by successful move-on will be discussed at the Norwich Accommodation Meeting, with a focus on optimising bed-spaces. 

Move-on process for hostel residents

Applicants in supported housing/hostels who participate in the Norwich hostel move on agreement who are assessed as needing to move on as determined by a member of the Housing Options team will be direct let into appropriate social housing tenancy providing the following criteria is met.

Local connection and reconnection

Norwich City Council is committed to providing the best possible service to all homeless people, including single homeless people not in priority need. Unfortunately, social housing and supported housing is a scarce resource and we need to ensure that services are prioritised for people with a local connection to Norwich City Council area. It needs to be recognised that people that have lived in Norwich their whole lives may only have a connection to Norwich, whilst newly arrived people sleeping rough to the area are likely to have other options available to them in the area that they are connected to.

Clients will need to be evidenced as having lived in Norwich for at least two years, including for six months before their referral into the participating hostel or supported accommodation. Individuals who have been sleeping rough for six months within this period will not be considered eligible for a direct offer of social housing.

Clients that do not meet this criteria will not qualify and will be expected to explore alternative housing options or reconnection to their home area with support from the hostel provider.

Risk

The current support provider will provide a risk assessment. Qualification will be determined by a Housing Options officer using criteria set out in Home Options policy in regard unacceptable behaviour and qualification will be applied. 

Tenancy ready

The client must be able to demonstrate that they are able to maintain a tenancy, for example, but not limited to, through an approved tenancy awareness course so that it is reasonable to expect that any tenancy will be sustained.  Previous issues such as rent arrears, or anti-social behaviour will be evidenced as having been addressed. 

Personalise housing plan

The applicant will complete a personalised housing plan (PHP) with a Home Options officer.  Any special housing requirements will be agreed and set out in this document. 

Applicants demonstrating the above will receive one offer of accommodation via a direct let, which they are expected to accept.  If the client refuses the offer, they will be removed from the process and cannot reapply for move-on through the scheme.  The client has the right to request a review of the offer of accommodation on the grounds of suitability.  This will be carried out by a review panel in accordance with Home Options policy. 

Those who do not qualify for move-on

Any individual has the right to apply to join the Home Options scheme and not be subject to restrictions that the move-on process imposes. The application will be assessed on the qualification criteria set out in Home Options policy. 

Clients in hostels or supported accommodation will be assessed as adequately housed and therefore placed in the standard band.

Where the client is assessed by the provider as ready to move-on and this has been agreed by the Home Options team but does not qualify for the move-on process, their Home Options application will be placed in the bronze band. 

Given the extremely high levels of demand for social housing in Norwich, clients that do not meet the criteria for move-on will be encouraged to be realistic in their expectations and be supported by their support provider to seek alternative options such as house-share, privately renting and reconnection to their home area.   

If a hostel client in bronze band refuses a reasonable offer of accommodation, this will result in their Home Options application being placed in the standard band.  

4. Compliance monitoring

If Norwich City Council deems that the provider is not meeting the terms set out in this agreement, they hold the right to temporarily suspend the party from the Move on agreement for 3 months or terminate the agreement with that provider altogether.

All hostel providers (The Parties) agree to compliance monitoring by Norwich City Council and agree to submit reports every two months to evidence the following:

Terms of compliance

• The referral source to evidence keeping within nomination agreement.
• Evidence of housing history and former rough sleeping **
• Full breakdown of all Move On outcomes 
• Area of Local connection at the point of access to the hostel 
• Support needs
• Attendance at Norwich Accommodation Meeting and Hostel Forum away days
• Submission of thoroughly reviewed Move on Paperwork with sign off by management. This ensures high standards and helps prevent delays due to ongoing communication between NCC and hostel providers. NCC can provide a training guide as a reference.   

5. The role of Norwich Accommodation Meeting (NAM)

The Norwich Accommodation Meeting takes place in person, on a monthly basis with representatives of each of the parties and outreach services.  It is expected that each representative is able to make operational decisions on behalf of their respective organisation. In addition to the activities set out above, the Norwich Accommodation meeting will:

• Discuss clients who have been evicted from hostels in the last 4 weeks (The agreement is also that Providers are informing Norwich City Council of evictions where possible before they take place and where not possible beforehand, notices of immediate evictions.
• Make decisions on current vacancies and share information with other hostel providers. Where required, the meeting will make decisions on moves between providers and explore the moving of clients from one provider to another to prevent eviction and abandonments.
• Discuss clients who are threatened with eviction from hostels and supported accommodation and explore ways this can be prevented.
• Where appropriate, discuss current individuals that are rough sleeping and their potential accommodation solutions within the hostel system.
• Discuss clients ready for move-on into social housing through Home Options and any issues affecting this. 
• Monitor the efficacy of this scheme. 

In addition to the Norwich Accommodation Meetings providers are asked to commit to attendance the Norwich Hostel Forum that takes place every 4 months. The purpose of the hostel forum away days are to, but not limited to:

• To share what works well / Shared best practice.
• Pool training where applicable.
• Feedback outcomes / observations to the existing Greater Norwich Homelessness partnership.
• To propose changes to the Move On / Hostel system which would improve performance.

6. Practicalities

Term of the agreement

• The agreement will be reviewed after two years.
• Should the parties wish to extend the term, this will be done by variation to this agreement three months prior to the end of term and with the agreement of the parties.

Sharing and handling of information

• The parties shall ensure that they and their employees observe all their obligations under General Data Protection Regulation which arise in connection with this agreement.
• Prior to the issue of any press release or making any contact with the press on any matter relating to the agreement the parties shall consult with each other, initially through the Norwich Accommodation Meeting. 

Confidentiality

Each party shall keep the other’s information confidential unless:

• The information was already lawfully known.
• Disclosure or use of the information is necessary to meet the terms of this agreement.
• Disclosure is required by law (including under the Freedom of Information Act 2000) or disclosure is permitted by the Human Rights Act 1998.

Variation

• No amendment to or variation of this agreement shall take effect unless it is agreed by the parties in writing and signed by an authorised representative of each of the parties.

Termination

• A party may only terminate this agreement by giving the other parties three months’ written notice.

Complaints and disputes resolution

Complaints in relation to the performance, success or otherwise of this agreement shall be passed, in the first instance, to the Housing Options manager at Norwich City Council who will try and resolve them with the relevant parties.

Where resolution is not reached, the issue will be escalated to the directors of the involved services.

SIGNED BY

 

For and on behalf of