Homelessness can affect people at any time, for example as a result of eviction, family breakdown or emergencies such as fire or flood.  The Council often provides emergency accommodation whilst a homeless application is being investigated to determine whether there is a statutory duty to house an individual. 

A report by Shelter estimated that on any given night in 2019, more than 280,000 people in England were homeless.  More than 60% of these people (170,068) were in London, where 1 in every 52 people are homeless. 14,500 of which were placed by LB Newham in emergency accommodation and estimated at least one in every 24 people in the borough had insecure housing.

Unfortunately, due to shortage of purpose built emergency accommodation, many are having to be placed into the cheapest B&B hotels that are designed for tourists or travelling public. Many of these placements are out of borough which exacerbates the problems faced by the homeless individuals as well as their support services.

Bedu have consulted extensively with councillors in the local wards as well as LB Newham’s Private Sector Housing, who have stressed the importance of rehousing homeless people within Newham in order to maintain their links to the borough, including being close to support networks and jobs. 

The Bedu team have been managing homeless accommodation since 1999 and have an outstanding working relationship with LB of Newham.  Bedu understand the challenges posed by emergency homeless accommodation and are striving to develop a better standard of hostels across London.  

Hartley Hotel was designed as a B&B for tourists, but due to the desperate shortage, LB Newham for many years has had no option but to place homeless adults into this accommodation.  Bedu’s proposal will effectively regularises this use and allows LB Newham to have a say in how the accommodation and its facilities are improved to meet the needs of its occupants, as well as who is housed in this accommodation and how it is managed.  Any rooms which become available at this proposed emergency accommodation, will first be offered to LB Newham, and only if LB Newham does not need the accommodation that night, will it be offered to other London Boroughs.

Currently the Hartley hotel is not designed to be “lived in”.  It does not provide for any outdoor space for its residents.  The proposed hostel is designed around a central green courtyard, where residents can sit and use the wifi in their own enclosed private garden without disruption to their neighbours.  This space is at present being used as an independent carpark with little benefit to the type of occupants the hotel serves.  The hostel residents have therefore had no choice but to loiter in the local area.  

The hostel will also provide further lounges and dining areas as well as a private meeting room for support workers to engage 1:1 with individual residents.  A coin operated laundry room will be open at convenient times 7 days a week.  The courtyard and the main communal areas are designed to be within sight of the reception desk.  The reception desk will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  It will be covered by 3 hostel managers.  They will manage the hostel in accordance with pre-established procedures and led by an experienced area manager.  From their reception desk, the managers will be able to monitor all activity in and around the parameter of the hostel via a comprehensive CCTV system.  All entry and exit points of the hostel will also be strictly controlled from the reception desk.

The likelihood of anti-social behaviour is minimal from the residents given their precarious status whilst in emergency accommodation. Any such behaviour could affect the outcome of the council’s decision whether to accommodate in the longer term and can lead to eviction from the hostel. 

The hostel will adopt a Customer Care Charter,  Code of Practice, Complaints Procedure and any anti-social behaviour will be dealt with via a “Three Strike Rule” disciplinary procedure.

All new residents will be inducted on fire safety, and the hostel will be upgraded to include a sprinklered fire suppression system.  

Further information about our proposal can be found by clicking on the icons below.