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Allocations for rough sleeper hotel move-on fund announced
The government has allocated funding for the first part of its £266m fund to help councils ensure homeless people who have been housed in emergency accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic do not return to the streets.
A total of 274 councils will share £91.5m from the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme in order to secure interim accommodation and support for those housed in hotels, for example by helping people into the private rented sector.
An additional £13.5m fund will be used to enable local authorities to tackle new or emerging challenges.
Applications are still being considered for a larger £161m fund that will be used to provide more than 3,330 additional supported homes this year for those sleeping rough or currently housed in emergency accommodation.
Of the £91.5m of allocations announced today, £43.2m (47%) will go to London boroughs, while £15m (16%) will go to councils in the South East and £7.6m (8%) to the North West, with the rest being split between other regions in England.
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The Next Steps Accommodation Fund was originally announced by the government in July to support the almost 15,000 homeless people who were temporarily housed in hotels and other accommodation at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said: “The incredible national effort to support rough sleepers during the pandemic has protected many lives and is widely regarded as one of the most successful programmes of its kind in the world. I’m hugely grateful to all those involved.
“This funding will ensure that vulnerable people and rough sleepers continue to have safe accommodation and the care and support they need, to ensure as few as possible return to the streets.”
Rough sleeping and housing secretary Kelly Tolhurst said: “This funding will make a difference to many thousands of vulnerable peoples’ lives, continuing to help them address complex needs and to rebuild their lives, away from the streets in safer interim accommodation.
“I want to commend the Rough Sleeping Taskforce, councils, providers and partners for the support they’ve provided so far. Together, we’re providing the support required to end rough sleeping and break the cycle of homelessness once and for all.”
Steve Douglas, chief executive at St Mungo’s, said “We welcome the speed with which this funding has been allocated. It will be for both homes and support, and will build on the success of the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, which enabled us, and other homelessness charities and service providers, to help almost 15,000 people sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness to move into emergency accommodation during the pandemic and to receive the support they needed. This undoubtedly saved lives.
“We have seen what can be achieved when we work together. Going forward we want to work with government and partners on longer-term solutions and hope that the homelessness review for a long-term strategy will begin this autumn.”
