Funding for the homeless in the budget “is unlikely to bridge the gap”

Experts have warned that the Government’s pledge of an extra £233 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in 2025-26 is “unlikely” to tackle the local authority funding crisis.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the extra money in Wednesday’s Budget, although many in the sector have welcomed it, they warn it is unlikely to cover the costs of temporary accommodation and preventing homelessness.

Official data published by MHCLG last month showed that initial assessments of homelessness were carried out for 358,370 households in England, a 10.4% increase on the previous year.

Over the past year, the number of households in temporary accommodation also increased by 12.3%, reaching 117,450 households, of which 74,530 have children.

Thomas Kerridge, head of policy and research at Centrepoint, said the funding was “unlikely” to close the gap between “what local authorities need and what they get”.

He said: “Local authorities spend billions of pounds on temporary accommodation and many cannot afford to meet their legal responsibilities to house and support homeless people.

“This budget is the first positive step towards solving the problem. However, Westminster is still relying on short-term financial fixes that are disproportionate to the scale of this crisis.

But he added: “A cross-government homelessness strategy and an expanded funding plan cannot come soon enough.”

Budget documents released on Wednesday released a plan for the Treasury to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and others in an intergovernmental task force to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

London Council leader Claire Holland (Lab) said the extra funding was “very welcome” but that the London borough’s finances remained “extremely tight”.

She said: “We came to this Budget warning of a homelessness emergency that is destroying the lives of Londoners and pushing boroughs to the brink of bankruptcy. While the budget will help address some of the immediate challenges we face, the funding outlook for districts remains unchanged. extremely difficult after 14 years of structural underfunding.”

Fiona Colley, director of social change at charity Homeless Link, told the LGC that this extra funding was only a “temporary measure”.

She said: “We are pleased to see that it has been in the budget, but we are still waiting to see exactly where the money will go. There is a lot of pressure on the budgets of the homeless, not least on temporary housing. .

“We know that sleepovers are booming, temporary housing is booming, and we think this money will help stabilize things a little bit, but the reality is that the long-term perspective, the next phase, is absolutely vital.”

Ms Colley said the cross-government task force on homelessness and sleep was “the right approach” but needed “reinforcing funding”.

She added: “We look forward to seeing this commitment from every part of government. We see a commitment to housing, but equally important is addressing poverty, looking at how the immigration system works, and dealing with criminal justice. , mental health and addiction services.

“It’s the only way we’re going to see real steps to end homelessness. But I would say that until we see how the actual strategy plays out, the jury is out.”

Rachel Astoll, chief customer service officer at social enterprise Beam, said tackling homelessness was taking up an “increasing proportion of councils’ already tight budgets”.

She added: “The extra targeted funding to prevent homelessness is good news. From our experience in providing these services, we know that the best long-term results are achieved through a person-centred approach.

“I hope this additional funding will enable more people to benefit from the personalized service they deserve.”

Emma Haddad, chief executive of homeless charity St Mungo’s, said the extra funding would help “thousands of people sleeping rough”, but added that the funding needed to be “sustainable, long-term and part of a much wider solution”.

She added: “Only then can we – national, local and civil society partners – be able to say with confidence that everyone has a safe and warm place to live.”