Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020
12 November 2020
On 12 November, Walsall's Homelessness Steering Group hosted the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 event online, launching a video to showcase best practice and share some of the partnership work happening to tackle homelessness across the borough. Following attendee feedback received after the successful 2019 forum, the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 focused on homelessness and domestic abuse, young people and adult social care. We welcome your feedback please fill in this short survey and tell us what you think about the videos or what you would like to see in 2021.
A link to the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 video is available below, as well as individual links to each of the three specific themes covered in the video.
Watch the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 (full video: 30 minutes)
Watch the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 – Theme 1: Adult Social Care (12 minutes)
Watch the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 – Theme 2: Young People (10 minutes)
Watch the Walsall Homelessness Forum 2020 – Theme 3: Domestic Abuse (7 minutes)
Contact us:
Housing Strategy Team
housing&welfaresupport@walsall.gov.uk
Energy Company Obligation Flexibility Scheme (ECO Flex)
This is a good source of help if you are on a low income and your home is hard to heat or if you are vulnerable to cold.
In line with government requirements the Council has published a set of criteria for the contractors undertaking ECO Flex to check that the property (house or flat) and residents both qualify. Typically anyone with a household income of more than £28,000 will not qualify. The full statement of intent can be viewed here.
New Government help during Corona Virus (COVID-19) Outbreak
The government in response to the recent outbreak is currently working on a number of areas to help people.
A number of upcoming and agreed help include:
Complete ban on evictions and additional protection for renters
- emergency legislation to suspend new evictions from social or private rented accommodation while this national emergency is taking place
- No new possession proceedings through applications to the court to start during the crisis
- Landlords will also be protected as 3 month mortgage payment holiday is extended to Buy to Let mortgages
Payment Holidays offered to Help to Buy homeowners affected by Covid-19
This will be help for homeowners who are struggling to pay interest fees on their Help to Buy equity loans and will be offered payment holidays.
Proposals agreed to ensure vulnerable customers who may fall into debt remain supplied with energy while in self isolation.
Government has agreed with energy suppliers for those who are vulnerable and need to self isolate:
- ensuring prepayment and pay-as-you go customers remain supplied with energy through challenging times and supporting all customers in financial distress
- industry agreement signed by all UK domestic suppliers and will come into force immediately
10 Energy Saving Tips During Coronavirus Lockdown
Due to the coronavirus measures that have been put in place, most of us have been spending more time at home, and will potentially continue to do so in the coming months. During this time, households may be facing increased energy bills that might be causing financial hardship. This guide provides some good tips and advice on saving energy during the covid-19 lockdown.
Further details and information on the government's response to Covid-19 can be found here.
Contact us:
Money Home Job
Walsall M.B.C.
Zone 1J, Civic Centre
Darwall Street
Walsall,
WS1 1TP
housingandwelfaresupport@walsall.gov.uk
Owner Occupiers
Home repairs, improvement and maintenance
The maintenance, repair and improvement of a home is the owner’s responsibility to arrange and pay for. There are however funds that may be able to assist with specific works. These funds are not from the council.
There is no guarantee of any funds / money being available and the decision to help or not rests with them (and the council has no say in this).
The council frequently gets asked about the following types of work / help especially as to whether we know of any loans or grants to help with them. Our position as at March 2020 is as follows:
|
Double glazing (first time or repairs)
|
The Council is not aware of any grants or funds to help with these items.
|
|
New external and internal doors
|
|
External wall insulation
|
|
Roof repairs (non-storm damage)
|
|
Works to improve gardens (front or rear)
|
|
Drop kerbs
|
|
Help with repairs to an empty home
|
|
Repairs to homes after flooding / storms or similar acts
|
Owners should contact their own home insurance company to see if there is any help with these works.
|
|
Home adaptations for a disabled person
|
Please see separate Disabled Facility Grant (DFG) web page
|
|
Repairs for broken boilers or heating systems
|
See 1. below
|
|
Improving home insulation (loft and cavity
|
See 1. below
|
|
New gas central heating where the house has no gas supply (and or meter) at all.
|
See 2. below
|
Improving home energy (including help with boilers) and or insulation
Different organisations provide different types of funding and these regularly change and are all outside the Council’s control. We try to keep this web-page as up to date as possible but cannot guarantee that all funds are still open for applications.
Energy Company Obligation Flexibility Scheme (ECO Flex)
This is a good source of help if you have a low income and your home is hard to heat or you are vulnerable to cold.
In line with government requirements the Council has published a set of criteria for the contractors undertaking ECO Flex to check that the property (house or flat) and residents both qualify. Typically anyone with a household income of more than £28,000 will not qualify.
The government requires all ECO-Flex applications to be considered for approval by the local council. In Walsall we do this in line with our published ECO-Flex statement. The money for the works however is not the Councils and as above we have no control over whether help is available or not.
The scheme has been very successful so far with over 650 households across the Borough already benefitting from energy efficiency measures paid for directly through funds from the energy companies (i.e. not the council funding).
The list below shows the organisations (in alphabetical order) who have completed 10 or more ECO Flex schemes in Walsall since January 2019. The council does not recommend any contractors (these or others) and the decision to choose a contractor is solely the responsibility of the grant applicant / home owner.
The money for the works comes from energy suppliers and it is the responsibility of the contractor to secure this money from them.
Local Energy and Advice Partnership
LEAP is an energy and money saving service that is helping hundreds of people reduce their energy bills and keep warm during the colder months and colder during the summer.
Eligibility is based on household income, receipt of state benefits, health conditions and family situation. Eligibility can be confirmed over the phone with LEAP.
For more information or to apply please visit the LEAP website.
-
Gas Central Heating for those who have no gas to their homes
The Council has previously secured money from the Warm Homes Fund Charity and Eon to help owner occupiers who have no gas supply to their home at all. In most cases this has paid for a gas supply, meter and full gas central heating system.
We are continuing to develop new bids for more funding. If you have no gas meter at your home and are interested in being considered email: Energyefficiency@walsall.gov.uk. So that your enquiry can be logged quickly, please use in the subject field of your email: WHF enquiry – no gas – and then list your address.
Please include your contact phone number too.
Please note there is no guarantee of any funding.