WIREDGOV

More people are being placed in temporary and emergency accommodation as a result of the Homelessness Reduction Act as councils struggle to cope with rising numbers of people facing homelessness and with a lack of affordable housing for them, a survey by the Local Government Association reveals.

The findings come ahead of the anniversary of the Homelessness Reduction Act, which placed a renewed focus on homelessness prevention and introduced a range of new duties on councils and came into force on April 1 last year.

Since 2017, local authorities have been housing more than 200,000 households in temporary accommodation, including in bed and breakfasts, hostels and private rented accommodation, with over half of them children. 

With the number of homelessness presentations continuing to rise across England since the introduction of the Act, the number of households in temporary accommodation is now up more than 70 per cent since 2010 and the burden on councils and their budgets will continue to increase.

To coincide with the anniversary of the Act, the survey of councils by the LGA reveals:

• 8 in 10 councils have seen an increase in homelessness presentations since the introduction of the Act.   
• 6 in 10 councils said it had increased the number of people being housed in temporary and emergency accommodation. The same number of councils say the length of time people spend in temporary and emergency accommodation has increased.
• Limited access to affordable housing and a lack of suitable accommodation for people already sleeping rough is a serious concern for 91 per cent of councils.  
• Councils across the country say excessive levels of paperwork required by the Act are costing them too much in administration costs and are hampering their ability to meet the needs of people at risk of homelessness.  
• Councils are determined to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.

The LGA said it is crucial that councils can keep 100 per cent of the receipts of any homes they sell to replace them and reinvest in building more of the genuinely affordable homes they desperately need and adapt welfare reforms to prevent people from losing their home where possible.

LGA housing spokesman Cllr Martin Tett, said:

“Behind every instance of homelessness lies an individual tragedy and councils are determined to prevent it from happening and support homeless people in their communities into accommodation as quickly and as effectively as possible.

“Many councils have updated their homelessness prevention strategies since the Act was introduced last year. But a lack of affordable housing has left many struggling to cope with rising number of people coming to them for help and having to place more families and households into temporary and emergency accommodation as a result.

“This is bad for families and communities, expensive for councils and not the aim of the Act.

“The wider factors that are increasing homelessness also need to be addressed if the Act is to be a success. Councils need to keep 100 per cent of Right to Buy sales receipts to replace homes sold and to adapt welfare reforms to protect families at risk of homelessness and prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.”

Notes

• The LGA conducted a survey of councils to gather information on their experience of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) since its implementation. The purpose was to enable the LGA to understand how well the Act is working on the ground and the areas where councils might be experiencing issues in relation to its implementation. A total of 151 councils responded.
• Report available on request.
• The LGA’s #CouncilsCan campaign aims to influence the forthcoming Spending Review and highlight the growing risk to vital local services if the Government does not take action to secure the financial sustainability of councils. Visit our campaign page for more information, here.