Howells LLP has been appointed by Sheffield City Council to provide free legal advice on debt issues as part of its prevention of homelessness initiative.

Media release

2^nd November 2010

Advice service aims to help prevent homelessness

Howells LLP has been appointed by Sheffield City Council to provide free legal advice on debt issues as part of its prevention of homelessness initiative.

The legal firm, which has more than 30 years’ experience of providing expert legal advice to individuals, won the work following a competitive tender and has already started to deliver the service.

Graham Hogarth, a partner at the firm who heads up the civil law department, said he and his team were delighted to be working on such a vital initiative.

“We’re here to help families having problems paying their rent and becoming vulnerable to losing their homes. Our role is to offer support and advice to ensure that any problems are picked up as early as possible and to help identify ways in which people can keep a roof over their heads.

“We’ll be delivering the service alongside Housing Aid, with whom we’ve had a productive working relationship for many years, to provide debt advice to complement the services they already offer and offer a more joined up service to help users get all the support they need at once.”

The support will be provided through an appointment service at the Council’s Howden House, offering a one stop shop to people in need of help over housing matters.

Councillor Penny Baker, Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Planning, said: “We have been making real progress towards preventing homelessness in the city, and are committed to helping Sheffield people who have fallen on hard times.

“We provide a range of services to work with vulnerable people, and stop them becoming homeless in the first place. An important part of this is making sure people get the advice and help they need, as soon as they need it, and we look forward to working with Howells to give people this vital support.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact Kath Harding on 07710 490943.