The Housing Team is responsible for supporting 55 tenants in 14 shared houses in Ipswich, including one for drug-free ex-addicts, called the Safe House.
Accommodation
We offer shared temporary housing with support for single people in 14 properties. The houses are owned by IHAG, Ipswich Borough Council, Orbit Housing Association and Stonham Housing Association, but are all managed by IHAG. Direct worker support is only available Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. We therefore give very careful consideration to the balance of personalities in each house, and every tenant
must be able to cope with shared living.
What are the houses like?
The 14 houses are scattered around Ipswich but most of them are near to the town
centre. Each house has from 3 to 5 tenants who have their own room but share a
kitchen and bathroom.
How much does it cost?
The weekly charge in 2010 is £103.50 per week. This covers rent, heating, lighting, use of cooker & hot water plus £9 breakfast vouchers. The charge is reviewed each year.
Who can apply?
If you are over 18, living as a single person (this includes couples with no dependent children) and you have nowhere satisfactory to live, or are about to have nowhere satisfactory to live, then you can register for accommodation with IHAG. Call in at our office between 12 and 3 pm Tuesday to Friday, or telephone or write to us.
If you have a Probation Officer we will only accept a referral directly from the Probation Service Accommodation Officer. We cannot house anyone immediately and we are unable to house anyone with high-level support needs. To register you must complete an application form and be interviewed by one of our Housing Team – interviews are usually within
2 - 6 weeks of you contacting us. If your application is successful then you will be placed on our waiting list. If your application is turned down, – which only happens 3 or 4 times a year out of over 300 applicants – IHAG will write to you and explain why.
How long will I have to wait?
The waiting time for accommodation varies because it depends on when people who are already tenants move out. You could wait as little as a matter of weeks or as much as several months. We do everything we can to make the wait as short as possible.
Does everybody on the waiting list get housed?
It’s not always possible to house all the people who register. We cannot offer you a room if:
you would be housed automatically by the Council or other body if you contacted them
you lose touch with us and we cannot contact you
you find other accommodation which suits you
you want to live with your partner but the few double rooms we have are already occupied, or
you have rent arrears with a former landlord; however our Money Advice Service can help you to negotiate with your former landlord and once you are making regular payments to them, we will consider housing you
our accommodation may not be appropriate for your needs
