The Mayor of London, , is to
create 900 new long-term homes for homeless Londoners, after
securing a £67m grant from the Government.
Following the determined effort from charities,
London boroughs and City Hall to house rough sleepers during the
Covid-19 pandemic, which was supported by the Government, this
new funding will provide long-term accommodation for those
currently living in hotels, hostels or other supported
housing.
The Government’s ‘Next Steps Accommodation
Programme’ is a £433m four-year national fund to deliver
longer-term accommodation for rough sleepers. £160m is being made
available nationally for homes to be delivered by the end of
2020/21, £66.7m of which has been secured by the
Mayor.
The fund will be used to deliver self-contained
accommodation at affordable rents. These homes will be ready for
tenants by spring 2021. The 900 homes created by the fund will
complement the 2,700 homes for homeless people already provided
in London via the Mayor’s Clearing House
service.
The funding is not only made up of capital
funding for the development, acquisition or refurbishment of
homes, but also a very significant element of revenue funding –
something the Mayor has long lobbied for. This means that for
every home delivered, up to four years’ support can be funded.
The funding is also highly flexible so it can be used for a wide
variety of schemes and approaches on a capital or revenue-only
basis, or a combination of both.
The Mayor of London, ,
said: “The
extraordinary effort to house London’s rough sleepers during the
pandemic has saved hundreds of lives and allowed many homeless
people to access health and welfare services for the first
time.
“But this work will be wasted if we don’t
have suitable accommodation for people to move into for the
long-term. That’s why I’m pleased to have secured this
substantial investment, which will help provide a stable future
for hundreds of formerly homeless
Londoners.
“There is still much more to do to tackle
rough sleeping which will require greater support from the
Government, including better protection for London’s two million
renters to prevent homelessness, funding to maintain hotel
accommodation for as long as it’s required and more support for
rough sleepers with no recourse to public funds. But this funding
for long-term homes is a big step forward in our mission to end
homelessness in London for good.”
Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing,
said:
“The huge efforts of councils, charities and
volunteers to bring everyone in off the streets has given us an
unprecedented opportunity to help to find long term accommodation
for rough sleepers in the capital.
“This fund will help them to rebuild their
lives with a safe place to call home. Nationally, almost 15,000
vulnerable people have been accommodated as we work to break the
cycle of homelessness and end rough sleeping for good by the end
of this parliament.”
Helen Evans, Chair of the G15 and Chief
Executive of Network Homes, said:
“The work by local councils, the Mayor and
national government to provide accommodation to people who were
homeless during the coronavirus crisis has been
impressive.
“This new funding offers the chance to provide
additional permanent accommodation. G15 members have been
carefully considering how they can play a part in this and will
carefully examine what offers they can make to this
fund.”
Steve Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of St
Mungo’s, said: “St
Mungo’s is proud to have been one of the organisations involved
in supporting the Mayor and GLA with the tremendous pan-London
‘Everyone In’ effort to bring people rough sleeping inside to
isolate safely.
“We’ve seen how life-saving, and for some,
life-changing that has been. We don’t want anyone to have to go
back to the streets so we welcome the funding that has been
secured for both capital and revenue
support.
“And we must use this opportunity to help
people rebuild their lives away from the street for
good.”
