Housing options management overview

In its simplest form, the term 'housing options' describes a service which provides housing advice to anyone who approaches a local authority with a housing problem, or are facing personal circumstances that could affect their ability to maintain their current home. The service therefore provides the mechanism for looking at an individual's options and choices in the widest sense, rather than just channelling them down the social housing route without first exploring other opportunities. The Housing Options module within Civica Cx Housing has been created with a key purpose in mind: to facilitate a personalised and tailored approach to identifying and presenting the full spectrum of housing opportunities, and more broadly, to help service users realise they have more control over their own life choices i.e. in the past a local authority or landlord might have decided what outcomes they thought were appropriate, whereas now the customer has infinitely more input in choosing their own housing options. Once configured, the module will empower the end user in identifying the customer's housing needs, offering them an honest, realistic assessment of their circumstances and providing the right advice about their current and future housing options.

It is widely recognised that there is a strong bond between decent, appropriate housing and good health, education or training and employment prospects. With this in mind, housing options advice is being reshaped to include a more rounded assessment of a customer's housing and sustainability needs, with a view to encouraging new groups of people to access the service. A principal design goal of the Housing Options module is therefore to bring together into one place all the information that is applicable to the life chances of people in respect of their housing aspirations, and to underpin the knowledge and expertise of the advisory service staff. Ultimately, the success criteria must be about setting off the customer on the right journey and also nurturing them to the point where they are actually helping themselves. A proactive and forward-thinking advisory service empowers the customer in a variety of ways:

By helping them to secure a home that is appropriate to their needs, their priority for housing and their financial resources
By providing the customer with the tools and knowledge to maximise their income or benefits, so as to afford the housing they need
Delivering practical advice about training, benefits and employment opportunities
For those customers who already have a home or rented accommodation, providing the right guidance to secure their mortgage or tenancy
By helping them to find the right support needed to tackle issues that affect their home sustainability, like debt, disabilities, infirmity or mental health
Offering a cohesive solution by working with statutory, voluntary and local community groups on the customer's behalf.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of housing options management, including: