Urgent Call for a Fresh Strategy Revealed in Homelessness Study

Urgent Call for a Fresh Strategy Revealed in Homelessness Study

The National Audit Office (NAO) and London Councils have published a new report, shedding light on the severity of the homelessness crisis in England. According to the report, homelessness is at its highest level since records began, with record numbers of families now living in temporary accommodation.

Key strategies recommended by the report and London Councils include:

1. Rapid delivery of social and affordable homes: The government has pledged £39 billion for social and affordable housing, aiming to build 180,000 new social homes by 2035 and a total of 300,000 social/affordable homes overall. Quick delivery is crucial to address chronic shortages pushing people into homelessness.
2. Restore and improve housing benefits: Restoring housing benefits to cover the cheapest third of rents is seen as essential for preventing homelessness driven by rising rents and cuts to support.
3. Expand evidence-based support models like Housing First: The expansion of Housing First, which provides stable, permanent housing alongside tailored support to the most vulnerable rough sleepers, is recommended to tackle entrenched rough sleeping and reduce costs on councils.
4. Close gaps in support services: Addressing failures in mental health, addiction, and domestic abuse support is necessary to prevent rough sleeping and help people maintain tenancies.
5. Cross-government coordinated strategies: A holistic strategy is expected to set clear leadership and collaboration across departments to tackle all root causes of homelessness, including prevention, rising demand, and systemic factors.
6. Avoid transferring costs without funding: Shifting burdens to already debt-laden councils without adequate funding risks worsening the crisis and local authority financial stability.
7. Prioritise prevention over crisis intervention: Shifting from reactive crisis measures towards upstream prevention, including community services investment, is emphasized in related government reviews of public services.

London Councils and other bodies stress the need for an integrated strategy addressing the housing supply shortfall, benefit adequacy, support services, and funding reform to enable local authorities to prevent homelessness effectively and reduce rough sleeping.

Cllr Grace Williams, London Councils' executive member for housing & regeneration, considers homelessness a national emergency. She states that homelessness has massive impacts on individual wellbeing and opportunities, as well as contributing to unsustainable financial pressures on council budgets. One in every 23 children in London is currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation, according to Cllr Williams.

The lack of social homes is costing the taxpayer £2.4bn a year and threatening to bankrupt district councils, according to the report. Homelessness spending has tripled in eight years, according to unmentioned research.

Experts are now calling on the new government to implement these strategies to make a difference in addressing homelessness. Claire Holland, the Local Government Association's housing spokesperson, has called for urgent action to implement the recommendations in the NAO report. London boroughs are determined to work with the new government and the Mayor of London in tackling the homelessness crisis.

[1] London Councils (2022) Addressing the homelessness crisis: A call for action. London: London Councils. [2] National Audit Office (2022) Homelessness: Effectiveness of government's strategy and local authority responses. London: The Stationery Office. [3] Centre for Social Justice (2020) Ending homelessness: A practical solution. London: Centre for Social Justice. [4] HM Government (2020) Transforming public services: Delivering for the people. London: HM Government. [5] Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (2021) Rough sleeping strategy: 2021 update. London: Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

1. The National Audit Office's latest report highlights the urgent need for policy changes in local government, particularly in housing policy and legislation, to address the escalating homelessness crisis in England.
2. In light of the report, London Councils advocate for a comprehensive approach, involving regeneration and housing policies, to alleviate the shortage of social homes, improve housing benefits, expand evidence-based support models, close gaps in support services, and coordinate strategies across all levels of government.
3. With rising homelessness levels among families and the increasing financial burden on councils, experts are imploring the new government to prioritize the implementation of these strategies, as outlined in reports such as the NAO's, to make a meaningful difference in reducing homelessness.

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