£1bn funding boost for councils to tackle homelessness

Councils will receive a cash injection of nearly £1bn next year to tackle homelessness in England, Angela Rayner has announced.

The deputy prime minister and housing secretary said 160,000 children faced spending Christmas without a regular home due to failures in the system and vowed to "break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good".

The funding, described by Ms Rayner as the "largest-ever" investment and a "turning point", will help councils intervene early to stop households becoming homeless, including through mediation with landlords to prevent eviction.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the money could also be used on services that prioritise access to permanent social housing for people with a history of repeat homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse.

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The latest statistics show that homelessness, which includes people living in temporary accommodation, is at record levels, with 123,100 households in England in temporary accommodation in the three months to the end of June.

The figure marks an increase of 16.3% on the same period the previous year.

The same statistics showed 159,380 children were in temporary accommodation between April and June this year.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the country faces "the worst housing crisis in living memory" with some 40% of homeless families living in B&Bs or nightly-let accommodation, as the use of such emergency accommodation has doubled in three years.

Ms Rayner said: "Too many people have been failed by the system time and again.

"160,000 children face spending this Christmas without a stable place to call home. I am determined to break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good.

"This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It's time to turn the tide.

"This historic funding comes alongside our work developing a cross-government strategy back on track to end homelessness, pulling every lever of the state, to ensure that we deliver not just sticking plasters but a long-term plan."

The funding, which will be introduced from April, includes more than £633m for the homelessness prevention grant, a £192m increase from this year, which will be allocated based on local pressures.

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Five million will go towards pilots to reduce emergency accommodation in areas with the highest use of B&Bs.

Housing charity Shelter said the cash injection was "vital to help councils support people facing homelessness".

However, it said the government needed to build 90,000 homes a year for 10 years, saying: " You cannot solve homelessness without homes".

One of the central missions of the new Labour government is to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament - with local councils last week told to come up with "immediate, mandatory" housing targets as part of the plan.

(c) Sky News 2024: £1bn funding boost for councils to tackle homelessness