CHESS notes on moving on

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A photograph of a very large spherical balloon with a gondola suspended underneath

Preparing to move on

Settling in

When you first arrive at CHESS, like most of the people CHESS helps you will be glad to have a warm bed for the night, food and a roof over your head. However CHESS recognises that your ultimate aim is to get a room of your own. This can be achieved in a number of ways but you may first have to accept:

a room in a house with others sharing cooking and washing facilities;
a room in an establishment where you can you can get the professional help you need to enable you to choose one of the other options; or
A bedsit with its own facilities but in a house shared with others.

Soon after you become a resident of CHESS you will be asked to discuss the best outcome for you and how that might be achieved. It is in your interests and CHESS's to ensure that whatever the goal you will have the right help to make sure that you keep the accommodation for as long as you need it. The last thing CHESS wants is for you to have to apply for a bed again in CHESS!

The local housing situation

The local authority has a big say in the availability of both supported and social housing. The availability of housing will depend o a number of things. Braintree, Witham and Basildon Councils have a bigger stock of houses and flats than Chelmsford, Maldon and Brentwood. So if you have a local connection in any of these areas, then your chances of getting housed are much better.

CHESS's role

CHESS operates five houses containing 25 beds. Other than this CHESS has little influence on housing allocation. Chelmsford Borough Council for example has the right of allocation over the majority of accommodation offered by local housing associations. CHESS is constantly on the look out for other housing solutions - which will usually involve some kind of shared accommodation. Our Resettlement Officers will help you register with the Council's Choice Based Letting Scheme. Access to this via the computer suite at the Day Centre has helped many of our service users look at possible permanent accommodation. During 2009 we helped over thirty people get housing of their own.

Occasionally CHESS will have money available to help with rent deposits - a solution which favours those with regular work and those who have demonstrated the ability to save regularly.

Sometimes some of the more difficult to let properties become available and CHESS is asked to recommend a resident. In this case CHESS will take three things into consideration. You need to bear them in mind if you want CHESS to recommend you for a tenancy:

If there were outstanding arrears of rent from your previous tenancy, an arrangement needs to be made to begin paying back the sums owed (if the tenancy was a joint one you may be still be liable for the whole outstanding arrears).
During your stay at CHESS, you must pay your weekly charges. This will indicate that not only should you be able to afford electricity and heating bills which are roughly the same amount, but that you have the ability and discipline to reserve the amount out of your wages or Benefits. Many of our former residents have proved this can be done if they were serious about maintaining their own accommodation after leaving CHESS.
Engaging with the plan which the CHESS Support Manager will agree with you will clearly demonstrate how keen you are to move on from CHESS to an independent lifestyle. This includes your attitude towards those with whom you are staying and the staff of CHESS who are trying to help you.

So the length of stay in a CHESS room is not necessarily a condition of moving on to your own accommodation.

A fourth clement which may help you obtain a recommendation from CHESS is the ability to save money. For those on Benefits this can be very difficult but if you ask CHESS to put away what you can afford (even as little as £5 a month if you only receive JSA), this will demonstrate your determination to secure accommodation as a priority above all else in your life (even if you have debts CHESS can help you sort out the problem). CHESS can also introduce you to a local Credit Union (a community bank where credit is much cheaper than at mainstream banks; and you can get interest on your savings!)

Working as a resident

CHESS encourages residents to obtain work but as this entails an adjustment to the Housing Benefit we can claim for you, your contribution towards the rent while you stay with us will also be adjusted appropriately. The rent you will have to pay to CHESS will not be more than you should be able to afford bug you must show the Night Accommodation Manager your payslips so that she can ensure affordability. As an approximate guide you would be expected to contribute up to 50% of what you could earn for full-time work on the minimum wage, to help pay for your room and the services CHESS provides.

Obtaining regular work or becoming a volunteer for a charity may also help you secure permanent accommodation.

In summary

Even after all this, as we have said there are no guarantees that CHESS will find you accommodation - especially if you have lived in Chelmsford where housing is more difficult. Recommendations do not carry a guarantee of success, but with CHESS's profile in the local community, CHESS does have a record of success because only those who are most likely to succeed in retaining their accommodation after leaving CHESS are recommended for moving on accommodation.

If you have any questions arising from these notes you should discuss them with the Night Accommodation Manager or the Support Manager.

To summarise what you need to think about: