Today, Secretary of State for
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove has announced an
additional £50 million will be made available to local
authorities in England in 2022/23 through atop-up to the
Homelessness Prevention Grant.
Responding to the announcement Matt Downie,
Crisis Chief Executive, said: “Extra funding for local
authorities to help people threatened with homelessness is very
welcome, especially as we know more people are being pushed into
poverty with the rising costs of rent, food and bills this
winter.
“However, we fear this still won’t be enough to stem the tide.
Our new research, published today, shows that over 300,000
households across Britain could be forced into homelessness next
year due to the cost of living emergency and social and economic
impacts of the pandemic.
“This investment can't close the growing gap between frozen
housing benefit levels and soaring rents. With rents rising at
their fastest rate in 16 years, the UK government must increase
housing benefit so that people have a fighting chance of finding
and keeping a home.”
Mr Gove's announcement comes as Crisis unveiled a towering
hyper-real sculpture of a person experiencing homelessness at
London King’s Cross this morning, making homelessness impossible
to ignore this winter.
The sculpture, named Alex, stands as a visible testament to the
hundreds of thousands experiencing the worst kinds of
homelessness, with sleeping on the streets, sofa surfing and
living in temporary accommodation becoming more prevalent as the
cost of living crisis bites. For more information, go to crisis.org.uk/cantbeignored.
