Repeatoffendersto be offered homes

SOCIETY: People with a history of offending will be helped into homes and given extra support through a new service in South Yorkshire, council bosses say.

Research shows homeless people who are offenders cost the taxpayer £20,200 per person per year, compared to the average cost of £4,600 for an individual on the streets.

PEOPLE WITH a history of offending will be helped into homes and given extra support through a new service in South Yorkshire, council bosses have announced.

Research shows that homeless people who are offenders cost the taxpayer £20,200 per person per year, compared to the average cost of £4,600 for an individual living on the streets.

Now Sheffield City Council has revealed plans to provide around 110 properties, as well as support, for between six and 12 months to help people live independently and find employment or voluntary work.

There will be a mix of selfcontained one-bed and shared two-bed properties as part of the scheme, and the council has already identified 24 places with 33 beds.

It will act as an alternative to hostels, which the council says are not always suitable, and there will be units specifically for women. Where possible, offenders who are sentenced to a short prison term will get support to keep their accommodation to prevent them from becoming homeless.

The planned new service will also provide a “warm handover” to new landlords, to help people settle in. In a new report, Dawn Walton, director of commissioning, inclusion and learning, said: “Service users often have a history of risk behaviours and/or antisocial behaviour.

“Some will be directly released from prison without accommodation or recently released and inadequately housed. This places them at risk of rough sleeping and potential further offending. In recent years there has been an increase in people with multiple needs and risky behaviours whose needs are difficult to meet.

“This makes it difficult to place people needing support in the right type of accommodation.

“This is particularly the case for the relatively small number of women who need this type of service.”

Council officers said the new service would reduce homelessness, help people resettle into communities, prevent them from re-offending and avoid unnecessary usage of emergency services.

The report added: “The number of people coming straight from prison with a recent offending history accessing all homelessness services is about 270 per year. This might well be underestimated.

“There is an increasing percentage of single women who have multiple needs and risk in supporting housing services.

“There has been a 33 per cent increase in women from 2016.”

Supported accommodation for women already exists in the region, but is in high demand with a waiting list.

The new strategy comes after the council revealed plans earlier this month to reduce rent for more than 39,000 council homes, in line with national policy, and to invest £400m over five years in housing maintenance.

There has been an increase in people with needs difficult to meet. Dawn Walton, director of commissioning at Sheffield City Council.