£4.83m grant for Hastings to tackle homelessness

Hastings will receive a welcome boost in its battle against homelessness, both the cost of providing temporary accommodation and helping rough sleepers, following the government’s announcement of a £1bn grant to English councils for tackling these problems. Nick Terdre reports, graphics by Russell Hall.

Funding of almost £1bn will be provided to councils in England in 2025/26 to reduce and prevent homelessness, the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced just before Christmas. Hastings’ share is £4.83m.

“This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness,” Angela Rayner, the secretary of state for Housing said.

“We have inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory that has left far too many families trapped in temporary accommodation with no end in sight and soaring numbers of people sleeping rough on our streets,” Rushanara Ali, the minister of state for Homelessness, added.

The bulk of the money, over £633m, will be dispensed as Homelessness Prevention Grant, a £192m increase from this year. Other sums are mainly aimed at tackling rough sleeping: £185.6m for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, £37m for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme and £58.7m for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant.

The grants will be paid out from April onwards.

There were a record number of 123,100 households, including 160,000 children, in temporary accommodation in England following “successive years of failure to invest in local preventative services,” the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government said.

According to the housing and homelessness charity Shelter, the most recent statistics showed 647 children housed in temporary accommodation in Hastings & Rye constituency.

Hastings’ share of £4.83m was the highest of the East Sussex local authorities, reflecting the acute nature of the borough’s homelessness problem. Rother is to receive £1m, Eastbourne £1.65m, Lewes £953,500 and Wealden £1.16m. By far the highest allocation in the South East, £14.87m, goes to Brighton & Hove.

Hastings’ allocation breaks down into £2.23m in Homelessness Prevention Grant – an increase of £800,000 on this year’s grant – and £2.6m for rough sleeping purposes – £1.87m in Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, £332,120 for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme and £399,002 in Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant.

News of the grant was well received by Hastings council, for whom a spokesperson said, “We welcome the additional funding for next year of around £800,000 for our Homelessness Prevention Grant, and extra funding to support the county-wide rough sleeping initiative that we lead on. It will be very helpful in contributing to the huge cost of private temporary accommodation and helping fund more preventative services.”

Of the Homelessness Prevention Grant, no more than 51% can actually be spent on paying for temporary accommodation, head of housing Chris Hancock told HOT; the remainder is earmarked for staffing costs and prevention activity. He also pointed out that the rough sleeping grants benefit all the East Sussex local authorities, as Hastings acts as the county’s lead authority for the Rough Sleeper initiative.

The council spokesperson also warned that the Homelessness Prevention Grant “…is still not enough to cover our temporary accommodation challenge. We continue to ask for structural change on Local Housing Allowance. This was reviewed earlier in 2024 but we have not seen an increase in the numbers of affordable rental properties since the review.

“We are also asking for a change to the subsidy we receive to help pay for temporary accommodation. This is still fixed to the 2011 Local Housing Allowance. Our figures show that if this was linked to the 2024 rate, we could receive an additional £1.4m a year. We also need more funding so we can build truly affordable homes for our residents who need them.”

Of the Homelessness Prevention Grant, no more than 51% can actually be spent on paying for temporary accommodation, head of housing Chris Hancock told HOT; the remainder is earmarked for staffing costs and prevention activity. He also pointed out that the rough sleeping grants benefit all the East Sussex local authorities, as Hastings acts as the county’s lead authority for the Rough Sleeper initiative.

Placing families and vulnerable individuals threatened with homelessness in temporary accommodation has become a major burden for the council, with the cost rising from £730,000 in 2019 to £4.5m in 2022/23 and £6.7m in 2023/24. To reduce its dependence on private landlords it has embarked on a policy of acquiring housing for use as temporary accommodation.

The council's housing acquisition programme aims to reduce the number - and cost - of residents temporarily housed in private properties.

According to information published recently in connection with its preparation of a new housing strategy, the council has acquired 63 new homes, of which 26 are tenanted, and has another 37 in conveyancing. Savings/cost avoidance to date has been calculated at £285,672.

Of 447 residents in temporary accommodation, 217 became homeless as their private rented tenancy came to an end and another 131 as family members were no longer willing or able to accommodate them. Of 184 who had lost an assured shorthold tenancy, 92 - exactly half - did so as their landlord wished to sell the property and 25 as the landlord wished to re-let it.

 

This article was updated by Nick Terdre on 2 January 2025.

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