Government pays for mediation between councils and landlords 

The government has given what it claims to be its “largest-ever investment in homelessness prevention services” including cash for councils to mediate with private landlords. 

A statement from Angela Rayner’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says nearly £1 billion is being pumped into council budgets to help break what it calls “the cycle of spiralling homelessness.” 

More resources will be available for workers on the frontline who provide essential services to get rough sleepers off the street and into secure housing as well as seeing more homeless families out of temporary accommodation.  

Most tellingly, a statement from the ministry says: ”Councils will now be better equipped to step in early to stop households becoming homeless in the first place. This includes mediation with landlords or families to prevent evictions, help find new homes, and deposits to access private renting.”

The government says the UK is currently suffering “the worst housing crisis in living memory” and around 40% of homeless families are living in B&Bs or nightly-let accommodation, while the use of this emergency accommodation has doubled in three years. 

It specifically claims that a record number of 123,100 households including almost 160,000 children are now in temporary accommodation.

Rayner herself comments: “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 full breakdown of new funding includes the following:  

• Over £633 million for the Homelessness Prevention Grant, a £192 million increase from this year, supporting councils to prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation where required for families who recently became homeless, for example, through eviction or fleeing domestic violence. This is allocated based on local pressures. ;

• £185.6 million for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, consolidating the main rough sleeping and single homelessness focused grants into a single pot of money. This means councils can better prioritise when providing warm beds and shelter for people at risk, or experiencing, rough sleeping;

• More than £37 million for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, providing ongoing support costs to help rough sleepers into longer term accommodation alongside specialist staff supporting their mental health and substance abuse problems to pave the way for job opportunities;\

• £58.7 million for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant to continue supporting evidence-based drug and alcohol treatment and support services;

• £10 million to the Changing Futures Programmes which offers long-term support for adults experiencing multiple disadvantage, including combinations of homelessness, substance misuse, mental health, domestic abuse;

• £7.6 million for Sector Support grants that will strengthen the capacity the voluntary sector with more staff, including StreetLink that encourages people to notify their authority if they’ve seen someone sleeping rough and what local services are available to provide immediate help into emergency accommodation;

•  £5 million for Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of Bed and Breakfast accommodation for homeless families to put in place specialised plans to reduce the use of emergency accommodation, including B&Bs. 

Rayner’s department has also repeated the government that “Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, one of the leading causes of homelessness, will be abolished as part of the landmark Renters’ Rights Bill. This will give greater security to new and existing tenancies and empower tenants to rightly challenge poor conditions.” 

This article is taken from Landlord Today