£5m funding to house homeless

SOME £5m is being set aside to buy properties to house the homeless in Gloucester. A stark rise in the number of people presenting as homeless to Gloucester City Council is expected to lead to an overspend of more than £1.5m by the end of the financial year.

There are 38 homeless families who have been placed in hotels, up by ten since last year. There are also around 180 households in temporary accommodation.

As a result, the city council has drawn up a temporary accommodation acquisition programme to help reduce the number of families they have to put up in hotels.

Planning and housing strategy cabinet member Stephanie Chambers said the council has a legal obligation to support people who present themselves as homeless.

She spoke of the marked increase in the people who need a roof over their heads and this has contributed to a more than £1.5m overspend in this year’s budget.

“There is a significant challenge for many households in accessing long-term accommodation,” she told the meeting.

“We are seeing a high demand for rented accommodation in Gloucester. However, the same pressures are being felt nationally.”

She told the council there is a large disparity between the funding the council receives and the cost to provide emergency housing for those in need.

The council owns three properties which are used for temporary accommodation.

“I hope members can support this report so we can alleviate some of the cost pressures on the council and ensure households that find themselves in that terrible situation of being threatened with or are becoming homeless can be supported and provided with an adequate place to stay until a more permanent solution is found.”

Deputy leader Hannah Norman said temporary accommodation for the homeless overspent by £451,000 with a year end forecast of £1.22 million.

She said she was pleased that the overspend in the second quarter has reduced thanks to extra grant funding and actions taken by the council.

Liberal Democrat group leader Jeremy Hilton said his group welcomed the report and said there is a shortage of such housing across the country.

He put forward a friendly amendment, which was supported, to lobby for more Government funding to support housing and to raise the local housing allowance rates to at least cover 30% of the local market cost and commit to an annual uprating.

The council voted unanimously to approve the proposals.