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English councils dealing with a rise in homelessness are calling on the government for greater funding to cope with the increased costs. Local authorities have had to house more people in temporary accommodation with the housing market experiencing increasing costs, leading to a funding gap of £737.3m over the last five years, according to the Local Government Association (LGA). As a result, councils have used more expensive accommodation options such as hotels and bed and breakfasts to provide support to individuals. The LGA is calling for the current system to be updated in line with 2024 costs.
The government recently released data showing a record 123,100 households were in temporary accommodation at the end of June, a 16% increase compared to last year. While councils are responsible for finding somewhere for those who meet the criteria for temporary accommodation to stay, they usually receive reimbursement from the Department for Work and Pensions, using the individual’s benefits. Until 2011, the amount that councils could claim back was capped at 90% of Local Housing Allowance. The coalition government then froze the cap based on 2011 rates and no government has since unfrozen it.
The LGA has urged the government to address the shortfall in funding causing councils to spend increasing amounts of money to house people in temporary accommodation. The gap has more than doubled over the last four years from £104.5m to £204.5m, with London and large cities particularly badly affected. The LGA has called for a new cross-government strategy to tackle and ultimately put an end to homelessness, and has stressed the need to provide more “genuinely affordable homes”.
In response, the government has committed to combat homelessness, including an additional £230m in funding, and is working to increase affordable housing. However, a recent BBC investigation revealed the unrealistic nature of Labour’s pledge to build an additional 1.5 million homes over the next five years to deal with the housing shortage. The total cost for councils for providing temporary accommodation is £1.75bn, on top of central government’s expenditure to house others, like asylum seekers
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