Thank you for contacting me about tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.
A single person without a roof over their head is one too many, and it is important that the most vulnerable people are helped to get their lives back on track. The past year has presented many difficulties and I am encouraged by the hard work of local councils, charities and the Government in protecting thousands of rough sleepers and vulnerable people during the pandemic. As of January 2021, tens of thousands of people had been supported with over 11,000 in emergency accommodation and over 26,000 provided with settled accommodation.
Swift action was taken in response to the outbreak of coronavirus, with the ‘Everyone In’ initiative and, later, the Protect Programme helping to ensure the most vulnerable in our society continued to be protected. As a result, encouraging progress continues to be made, with recent data showing that rough sleeping has fallen by 37 per cent in the last year alone – the third year in a row during which the count of rough sleeping has declined. This speaks to the excellent work of homelessness charities, more funding to help rough sleepers and vulnerable people, as well as increased accommodation provision and improved mental health services.
Safe accommodation is at the heart of helping vulnerable people off the street. It is encouraging to see that the Next Steps Accommodation Programme has been launched, which will cover property costs and support new tenancies for around 15,000 vulnerable people. Local councils will share over £90 million in funding to provide interim accommodation and support for the most vulnerable people. This will help make sure people continue to have a safe place to stay and can begin to rebuild their lives with wrap-around services and care.
As we look beyond the pandemic, the real challenge has just begun. There needs to be a long-term solution to help those that have been brought in, which is why the Government is making over £750 million in funding available for 2021-22. This will support frontline services through the Rough Sleeping Initiative and enable local authorities to fund their statutory duties to prevent homelessness, through for example the £310 million Homelessness Prevention Grant.
Furthermore, I am encouraged that £433 million has been allocated to provide 6,000 safe and long-term homes for those in need. This is the largest ever investment in move-on accommodation and will provide long-term assets as well as accompanying support services. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, formerly Public Health England, has also provided £75 million to ensure that drug and alcohol treatment services support for people is maintained as they move into longer-term move-on accommodation and to support those who have not previously engaged with treatment services.
Everyone deserves a home to call their own and affordability is key to ensuring people can do so. The Government has committed to building 300,000 new homes of all tenures each year by the mid-2020s, and great progress has been made with over 240,000 homes delivered in 2019-20 – the highest number in over 30 years. The new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will leverage up to £38 billion of private finance and provide up to 180,000 new affordable homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. This will ensure that homes for low-income families are built where they are urgently needed, while planning reform will make sure local councils secure more on-site housing where this is most needed.
As we build back better from the pandemic, we need to keep the momentum up to address rough sleeping once and for all.