Trafford Council has announced that its vitally important housing service, which is currently outsourced to a housing association, is to return in-house from April next year.
Housing Options Service Trafford (HOST), which offers free advice and assistance to residents on all housing and homelessness issues, has been outsourced since 2005 and provided by Salix Homes since April 2015 but will be run by Trafford Council from April 1, 2021.
The Council has made the decision to bring the service back under its control as part of its corporate priority and commitment to providing social housing and tackling homelessness. Salix Homes staff have been informed and will be moving over with the service when it returns to the Council.
HOST currently provides the statutory homelessness function on behalf of the Council along with providing advice and support for local people with their housing needs, including managing Trafford Home Choice, the social housing list for the borough. The service was last year accessed by 34,485 people and is an important asset in the fight against homelessness.
Cllr James Wright, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration, said:
“Social housing and tackling homelessness is a corporate priority for Trafford Council. Housing Options Service Trafford is a vital service which secures homes for people and prevents people from becoming homeless.
We have made the decision to bring HOST back in house so we can ensure these functions are delivered in a better co-ordinated way with other associated Council services and functions. This transfer will allow the Council to improve on an already excellent service.
Thank you to Salix Homes for running this vital function over the past five years and for doing such a tremendous job.”
To contact HOST please call 0161 912 2230 or come into the office and talk to someone face to face. The service is based at the Sale Waterside building.
Posted on Wednesday 14th October 2020