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Encourage rough sleepers to move in with family and friends, government tells councils
Rough sleepers given emergency accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic should be encouraged to move in with family and friends, the government has told councils.
Homelessness minister Luke Hall made the call in a letter to local authorities last week, seen by Inside Housing, requesting that they set out next-step support plans for rough sleepers housed during the pandemic within seven days.
He asked that when considering move-on accommodation options, councils should “seek to encourage people, where appropriate and possible, to return to friends and family”.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) added in a statement to Inside Housing that it was asking councils to carry out individual assessments and consider a range of options to ensure people’s needs are met, which could involve returning to friends and family in some cases.
Following instruction from the government, nearly 15,000 rough sleepers have been placed in hotels or other emergency accommodation by councils since March to help keep them safe from COVID-19.
The government has allocated £3.2m in rough sleeper funding for councils and £3.2bn to cover all services as they respond to the virus.
It has since pledged another £433m to deliver 6,000 new long-term homes for rough sleepers and formed the Rough Sleeping COVID-19 Response Taskforce to find permanent housing for people brought indoors during the pandemic.
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Mr Hall’s letter also said councils should assess the availability of move-on housing in their areas and “where applicable” work with housing associations to increase the supply.
People should be supported to move into the private rented sector where “appropriate”, he added, and short-term accommodation should be put in place where move-on options are not available to prevent them from having to return to the streets.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has previously warned that there is a “limited capacity” of suitable move-on homes for rough sleepers.
Mr Hall stressed that councils should “continue to be health-led” with the pandemic ongoing and develop their plans with support from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
The minister also reiterated that homeless migrants should be offered “a voluntary return to their country of origin” and restated that the law for those classed as having no recourse to public funds “remains in place”.
“I appreciate that these are challenging timescales and that your plans will develop over time, but we need this information so we can work with you to support your next steps work over the coming weeks,” he added.
A spokesperson for MHCLG told Inside Housing: “We thank councils, charities and other partners for working with us throughout this pandemic as we continue to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
“Our new rough sleeping taskforce – spearheaded by Dame Louise Casey – has one overriding objective: to ensure as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return and will continue to work closely with councils and charities to provide the long term support needed.
“We’ve been clear councils must continue to provide safe accommodation to vulnerable rough sleepers and support those moving on from emergency accommodation as the risk from the virus reduces.”
The spokesperson added that MHCLG is asking councils to carry out individual assessments and consider a range of options to ensure people’s needs are met.
