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Bath and North East Somerset - Single Access Point

Sunday, 20-May-2012

Support People Home

Welcome to the Housing Support Gateway

The Bath and North East Somerset Housing Support Gateway provides a single place where you can apply for a wide range of support services to help you to live independently, to remain in your own home or to avoid homelessness.

To be offered a service you must:

live in Bath and North East Somerset and
need supported housing or home based ‘floating’ support or both

These services are funded through Supporting People

Supported Housing is any service where housing and support are provided by the landlord or organisation. The support is offered at a specific property like a sheltered housing scheme or supported housing scheme.

Housing and support is given to people with a wide range of support needs. Support staff will help you to learn how to live independently and support you to move on into your own housing.

Floating support is a service which follows you and can be delivered wherever you live in Bath and North East Somerset. Once you no longer need support the service can be offered to someone else.

Floating support providers give support in housing matters to people with a support need who want help to settle in and manage their lives whether they live in private rented housing, social housing, or own their own homes.

All the services help you to be independent and improve your quality of life.

To find out how the services can help older people
To find out how the services can help people who have been homeless
To find out how the services can help people with learning difficulties

All of these services can be accessed through the Gateway

Is the Gateway service right for me?
What kind of help could I get?
How do I apply?
What happens next?

Is Bath and North East Somerset Gateway service right for me?

The Bath and North East Somerset Gateway is a place where you can access a wide range of support services to do with housing if you live in the Bath and North East Somerset area.

You may be homeless or at risk of homelessness
Or need some short term support to resettle or live independently.

Priority will be given to vulnerable people and those in crisis.

If you are not local to Bath and North East Somerset, you may be able to get assistance to 'reconnect' with your local area. Contact Housing Advice for further information.

To apply you can complete the online self assessment form above. If you have difficulty with this you can contact one of the support providers who will help you.

What kind of help could I get?

Housing related support services are offered to vulnerable people living in Bath and North East Somerset who are homeless or finding it difficult to cope with living at home. Most services are for up to 2 years and free. But if you need support for longer it may be possible to arrange this. There is a charge for these services but you can get help if you are on a low income and/or means tested benefits: Charging Policy

The support offered includes:

Setting up and keeping a home and/or tenancy Managing finances, debt advice and applying for benefits Gaining access to other services
Establishing social contacts and activities Supervising and monitoring of health, wellbeing and medication Practical support and advice managing a home including repairs, adaptions and improvements

How do I apply?

To apply for either supported housing or floating support you can complete an on-line self-assessment form. If you need help with this, contact Reach who will help you.

The online form is 5 pages long. Please ensure that you complete each page and click 'next section' within 30 mins otherwise your application wll 'time out' and you will need to start again.

Please make sure that you tell us your correct contact details, including a phone number where you can be contacted. If you move to a different address or change your phone number, inform one of the support providers (listed here) who will arrange for your application to be updated, or complete a 'change of address' form available from Homesearch

The information you provide will be held on a secure computer database and may be shared with support providers, local authorities, the Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate and other Government Departments and agencies under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. By completing the form, you agree to this.

What happens next?

Once you have submitted your on-line self assessment form service providers will be able to see that you are waiting for a service. Some services have waiting lists and we cannot guarantee that places will always be available straight away.