Tunbridge Wells Borough Council expands partnership with Beam to support homeless residents
The Council has expanded its partnership with social enterprise Beam to reduce homelessness in the borough.
The partnership, which began in 2022, has already successfully supported 70 homeless households to access secure housing and employment.
The new programme will specifically focus on supporting residents in temporary accommodation (TA) into properties they can afford in the private rented sector (PRS). The goal is to reduce the time households spend in TA and decrease the council's reliance and expenditure on temporary housing. The initiative also focuses on helping residents to sustain their tenancies long-term through dedicated training and employment opportunities.
Currently, the number of residents in Tunbridge Wells requiring TA exceeds the Council's available stock, with residents often remaining in TA for two to four years while awaiting suitable housing. The expanded partnership will see Beam supporting 20 households in TA over the next 12 months, representing a quarter of all households in TA in the borough.
Support includes
Beam's approach to supporting residents includes:
- Personalised one-to-one casework support: Tailored to the family's needs, this includes exploring housing options, budgeting advice, tenancy training, house-hunting assistance, landlord negotiation, and rapid payments to secure tenancies.
- Rapid tenancy outcomes: In 2024, Tunbridge Wells residents moved into the PRS within approximately six weeks of Beam's commencing support.
- Strong landlord partnerships: Beam's dedicated landlord engagement team sources affordable properties.
- Long-term tenancy sustainment: Beam has a dedicated sustainment team to resolve issues with landlords and prevent arrears. Clients needing additional financial stability can be referred to Beam's employment programme, ensuring holistic support and reducing the risk of repeated homelessness.
Who benefits
One resident to benefit from the council’s ongoing partnership with Beam is single mother Aisha. After leaving an abusive relationship, Aisha was placed in temporary accommodation with her young children but had to move seven times over the course of 12 months due to safety concerns. She was referred to Beam by her council housing officer last year, with the goal of finding a safe place to live.
Within two months of working together, Aisha found a three-bedroom private rented home for her and her children. Beam paid for the deposit and first month’s rent up-front to secure the property. Her Beam caseworker also ensured she was set up with Universal Credit to cover her rent each month and guided her through setting up bills and managing her tenancy. Aisha continues to benefit from ongoing support from Beam’s sustainment team to help keep her housing situation stable.
After moving into the property seven months ago, Aisha said: ‘Now I can see my future pretty clearly. I can plan for my future, plan for my kids' future—which school, college, or university they want to attend—and start building new friendships, starting a new chapter for life to come. When anyone goes through this kind of situation, they need a shoulder. They need someone to say, 'It's okay. We are here. I'm here to listen.' I feel like Beam staff members have that empathetic behaviour, and that makes them exceptional.‘
Minna Gabertas, Partnerships Lead at Beam, said: ‘The private rented sector has traditionally been out of reach for many homeless households, and Beam is actively working to change this. By continuing our partnership with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, we can collectively reduce the number of people staying in costly temporary accommodation, while helping them to build independent, happier lives. It’s inspiring to see the impact our partnership is having on families like Aisha’s, and we’re excited to support even more families who need a stable place to call home.’
Councillor Astra Birch, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, said: ‘It's always wonderful to see our residents being able to move on from temporary accommodation, and the ongoing partnership with Beam has been significant in supporting those good outcomes. Temporary accommodation is a great cost to the council, so another benefit of this work is the reduction in costs so money can be used elsewhere to help others.‘
More about Beam
Beam offers new and innovative ways to support disadvantaged people into their own home. Dedicated Beam caseworkers, equipped with leading AI tools they build in-house, support people into jobs and homes in the private rented sector which a sustainment team then makes sure they settle into comfortably. By working with forward-thinking councils through this model, they’ve empowered 6,000 people across the UK to build independent, happier lives.
