Almost £1 billion promised to tackle homelessness

The Salvation Army responds to the Government's promise of almost £1 billion to tackle homelessness.  

The Salvation Army's Director of Homelessness Services, Nick Redmore, said:

“With Homelessness rising at an alarming rate, the Government’s pledge of almost £1 billion for homelessness services is both urgent and welcome. As one of the UK’s largest providers of homelessness support, we’ve seen firsthand how being without a secure home damages people’s health, safety, and wellbeing.

“Preventing homelessness and tackling the crisis of temporary accommodation are absolutely crucial and the Government is right to prioritise them. We hope this promised funding proves a turning point in ending rough sleeping and moving more people into stable homes.

“Public services that help people address the reasons they are homeless such as poverty, trauma, abuse, addiction and mental health issues are drowning from the rising demand for support. This investment will provide a much-needed life jacket but if the Government is serious about ending homelessness it must go beyond one off emergency injections of funding.

“What homelessness services desperately need to operate is long-term, sustainable funding that keeps up with inflation. And for that investment to be effectively targeted there also needs to be better recording of the number of people who are homeless in different parts of the country and what support they need to rebuild their lives.

“It’s also vital to prevent people struggling on low incomes from being pushed into homelessness by rising rents. Unless the Government also reverses its decision to freeze the local housing allowance it will not only be putting thousands in danger of losing their homes, but any efforts by the Government to tackle the homelessness crisis will be seriously undermined.”

The Salvation Army is calling for the Government to:  

• Provide adequate sustained funding for local authority homelessness support services, which rises in line with inflation.
• Ensure local authority homelessness strategies include mental health and addiction support.
• Reverse the planned freeze of the Local Housing Allowance so people on low incomes who are eligible for help get the support they’re entitled to and are relieved of the threat of homelessness.
• Introduce a recording system of the rough sleeping population across the UK, which is similar to CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network statistics) in London.
• Deliver its commitment to a sustained investment in affordable housing stock, especially social housing.