Shortage of homes fuels housing woes
Homelessness costs are soaring
new, affordable homes in the area by 2020 after identifying “clear areas of high demand”.
In 2011/ 12, South Ayrshire spent £ 777,923 on bed and breakfast charges – but by last year, this had been reduced to just £ 2,166 for the whole year.
However, the cost of housing people who are homeless in private rented accommodation has risen from £ 239,630 in 2011/ 12 to £ 339,050 last year.
Council chiefs say they are making “real progress” as they bid to meet the needs of homeless people, who they have a legal duty to provide accomodation for.
David Burns, head of housing at South Ayrshire Council, said: “We have a statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation to people who are assessed as homeless, with approximately 700 homeless applications being received each year.
“To help manage this we introduced more targeted advice and support, which has led to a 19% reduction in homeless applications being made between 2011 and 2016.
“It’s testament to the hard work and innovative thinking of our staff that we’re seeing real progress in this area, as we continue to invest in a range of alternative, more suitable housing.”
East Ayrshire Council spent just £ 491,539 on rents for temporary accommodation between 2011 and 2017 but almost £ 4.3 million was spent on running hostels to meet the needs of temporary homeless people.