Homeless to spend winter in city hotels
COUNCIL COMMISSIONS 30 BEDS
CONTRACTS worth £254,000 to house up to 30 rough sleepers in two Hull hotels over the winter are being issued by the city council.
The move will see 18 beds being commissioned at the Marlborough Hotel in Spring Bank and another 12 rooms at the Park Hotel in Park Street. More than half of the money will go on security costs.
Just over £700,000 worth of government funding has been allocated to Hull under a programme aimed at continuing the use temporary accommodation for rough sleepers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Marlborough Hotel is already being used to provide beds for rough sleepers but the new contract will continue that provision until March 31.
The Park Hotel is being used for the first time under the initiative.
Housed in what used to be an annexe of Hull College, the 71-bed hotel has yet to open to be public following delays to a major refurbishment of the building caused by the pandemic.
Having been empty for a number of years, conversion work started on the Grade two listed property late last year with the aim of opening this summer.
Speaking to the Mail in April, director Steven Monaghan said: “We are providing a high-quality budget hotel. The rooms will have king-sized beds, air conditioning and some will even have hot tubs. They will all be en suite.”
The proposed facelift scheme also included the creation of 80 self-catering apartments.
A new decision record published by Hull City Council breaks down the cost of providing the rough sleeper accommodation over the next four months.
Commissioning the 18 beds at the Marlborough Hotel will cost £58,000 while the 12 rooms at the Park Hotel
will cost facilities.
In addition, a separate contract for provide Covid-compliant cleaning services inside the Park Hotel is expected to cost £4,000.
Another £147,000 will be spent on arranging 24-hour security cover at both hotel sites.
Together, the two hotels will replace long-standing facilities previously provided by the Dock House emergency night shelter in the city centre, which has now closed permanently.
The decision record report also confirms £350,000 from the Government allocation for Hull will be spent on buying and remodelling an unnamed property to create a permanent rough sleeper assessment hub.
That scheme aims to provide a new long-term facility to replace an eightbed unit at The Crossings homeless hostel in Great Union Street, which was forced to close recently because it was no longer suitable under Covid-compliance rules on air circulation issues in shared areas.
The new replacement unit is expected to feature up to ten beds in individual en-suite rooms.
In the report, the council’s cabinet member for housing, Councillor John Black, said: “I support the proposals which will continue to deliver the priorities of the preventing homelessness and rough sleeper strategy and reduce rough sleeping as well as support the response to Covid-19.”
£45,000, £45 000
including laundry