- £91.5 million allocated to 274 councils in England to help vulnerable people housed during the pandemic
- £13.5 million fund to tackle new and emerging challenges
- Bids have also been submitted for £161 million support to help secure 3,300 longer-term homes
Thousands of vulnerable people who were housed during the pandemic will be helped to stay in accommodation this year thanks to the allocations of funding announced today (17 September 2020) by Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick.
274 local councils will share £91.5 million of government funding to ensure interim accommodation and support for the most vulnerable people, including by helping people into the private rented sector, secure interim accommodation such as supported housing, and assess the wider support these people need in order to rebuild their lives. An additional £13.5 million fund will be used to enable local authorities to tackle new or emerging challenges.
Separately, applications are now being considered for a further £161 million fund intended to provide over 3,300 additional supported homes this year for those sleeping rough or currently housed in emergency accommodation. The bidding has now closed and details on successful bids will be announced in due course. This is part of broader support to provide 6,000 such homes over four years.
The Next Steps Accommodation Programme is part of the government's landmark commitment to end rough sleeping for good.
Secretary of State for Housing, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP 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.
Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing, Kelly Tolhurst MP 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, council, 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.
Chief Executive of St Mungo's Steve Douglas 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.
