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Welsh government announces £40m in new funding to prevent homelessness
The Welsh government has announced a new £40m package to make sure people do not fall into homelessness, adding to a £10m package announced earlier this year.
The funding, unveiled by housing and local government minister Julie James, will aim to transform services and build accommodation for the long term so that everyone given emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic has a “clear route” to permanent housing.
The initial £10m announced in March was focused on ensuring homeless individuals had somewhere to self-isolate if necessary.
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The Welsh government has also provided a package of support to make sure as many people as possible facing financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic remain in their private rented homes, sustaining tenancies and avoiding eviction due to rent arrears.
In July, an extra £1.4m was announced to help tenants boost their household income and manage problem debt, with the help of a dedicated early alert scheme provided by Citizens Advice Cymru.
Ms James said: “I have been clear that I do not wish to see anyone forced to return to the streets. We have a unique opportunity to change the services and change lives for the better – and make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. We want to build on the success we have seen so far and change Wales’ approach to homelessness in the long term.
“To that end I have increased the overall homelessness phase two funding to up to £50m, which clearly demonstrates the level of commitment we have to ensuring we can make a truly significant and transformational step-change towards achieving our goal of ending homelessness in Wales.”
