The pilot between August 2025 and February 2026 enabled city residents to access housing advice and support earlier in person or by phone.

Based at the Civic Centre, it created a single front door to Housing Advice, Homeless Services, Call Us First and Family Help (Children’s Services).

This resulted in a reduced number of households experiencing homelessness, through earlier intervention and effective housing solutions.

The overall benefits included increased face-to-face contact, helping to build trust, speed up document collection, and enable quicker referrals; effective collaboration across teams is keeping cases moving and improving decision-making; a high number of cases being resolved at first contact - easing pressure on Homeless Services and temporary accommodation; and households being rehoused within days and avoiding the need for temporary accommodation.

The future service is also set to be expanded to include partnership working with other areas such as Private Rented Sector, Home Improvement Agency and Adult Services. It will also explore the option to provide digital access to the service for residents.

Councillor Steve Evans, the council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Housing, said: “Often, residents facing the threat of homelessness do not get in touch with us until they reach crisis point.

“We always encourage residents to contact us earlier so we can support them with preventative measures rather than having to find them temporary accommodation.

“The pilot Housing Advice Service single front door approach demonstrated a clear increase in cases being resolved at the first point of contact.

“We now want to fully establish an accessible, resident-focused Housing Advice Service that supports people to understand and navigate their housing options more easily, strengthens early advice and prevention - enabling households to resolve housing issues - and help residents sustain their tenancies and remain in suitable accommodation wherever possible.”