Housing organisations urge government to protect homelessness services amid budget cuts

Various housing organisations and campaign groups have written a joint letter to Felicity Buchan about the amount of homelessness accommodation spaces currently at risk of closure due to the crisis in local government funding.

The letter calls on the government to boost and ringfence funding for supported housing to protect homelessness services commissioned by councils.

Several councils are considering proposals to withdraw funding from organisations that deliver supported accommodation for people facing homelessness, due to the financial pressures facing local authorities.

The letter expresses ‘serious concern at the number of county councils currently proposing to decommission homelessness and other supported housing funding contracts due to severe financial constraints’.

More than half the county councils in England fund homelessness support services, though they are not statutorily required to do so.

‘These services support thousands of people to move away from homelessness each year, many of whom would otherwise be rough sleeping,’ the letter warns. ‘Due to the crisis in local government finances, we’re currently aware of three county council proposals to de-commission homelessness support contracts, of which one has been formally approved.

‘These three councils are collectively projecting a funding gap of £165m in 2024/25, which they currently have no choice but to fill through budget cuts. Forcing councils into cuts will have a long-term negative impact on the public purse, as residents are forced into expensive temporary accommodation, hospital beds, or onto the street.

‘If enacted, these proposals will significantly reduce homelessness provisions. For example, in one county, five accommodation projects and a floating support service will have to close, while in another, over 160 beds for people experiencing homelessness are at risk.’

A Local Government Association (LGA) survey in December found that one in five council leaders think it is likely they will have to issue a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy, either this year or next. Birmingham and Nottingham council have already issued Section 114 notices, placing their non-statutory supported accommodation contracts at risk.

The National Housing Federation (NHF), which helped co-ordinate the joint letter, warned that if these proposals are not prevented through increased and ringfenced government funding, over 250 homes for people who are homeless may be lost across the country, putting those facing homelessness at risk of rough sleeping and increasing the burden on social care and NHS services.

The evidence shows that increasing and ringfencing this funding will also save money. Research by Imogen Blood & Associates, commissioned by the NHF, found that the average cost per person of supported accommodation was £21,000 per person per year, whereas allowing a person to remain homeless for a long period of time cost £43,000 per person per year.

In addition to the NHF and LGA, the letter was co-signed by the Chartered Institute of Housing, Homeless Link, Centrepoint, Rethink Mental Illness, Crisis, Shelter, the National Care Forum, and the Rural Homelessness Counts Coalition.

Image: Jon Tyson

More on homelessness:

Statutory homelessness soars as government continues to delay ‘no fault’ evictions ban

LGA have warned thousands of refugees could face homelessness this Christmas