February 13th 2024
London council pursues registered provider status to help tackle homelessness crisis
Richmond Council has been granted approval to apply to become a registered provider of social housing, enabling it to access additional funding to deliver temporary accommodation and address homelessness.
The decision comes in the wake of the council’s recent appeal to the government to end the freeze on the housing benefit subsidy cap, which has remained stagnant since 2011.
Jim Millard, deputy leader of Richmond Council, said: ‘Our dedicated officers are doing incredible work supporting residents presenting as homeless in the borough, but the pool of appropriate properties available within the private rented sector has evaporated.
‘As a result, too often Richmond families faced with homelessness are having to be placed in temporary accommodation outside the borough, far from support networks and often with journeys of over ten miles to school every day. In the face of a temporary accommodation crisis which has been exacerbated by the soaring cost of living, we need to take swift action to alleviate the impact on Richmond residents in need.
‘With over 500 families currently in temporary accommodation, becoming a registered provider enables us to directly deliver accommodation within the borough for those in need and this decision not only streamlines the process but shows how we are innovating to tackle this challenge at a local level.’
Seeking registered provider status gives Richmond, as a non-stock holding authority, the opportunity to bid for funding from the Greater London Authority to allow it to pursue other approaches to increasing the stock of temporary accommodation within the borough, including expanding the council’s programme to acquire properties on the open market and address the immediate need for temporary accommodation.
At the end of June 2023, Richmond had 521 households in temporary accommodation, 273 of which included children. Of the 521 households, only 18 were accommodated in social housing, and 399 were housed outside the borough.
The figures marked a 53% rise in the space of a year – at the end of June 2022, Richmond had 340 households in temporary accommodation, 173 of which included children, and 220 of which were housed outside the borough.
Image: Levi Meir Clancy
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