Homelessness remains at crisis point so we’re funding local solutions to fix it

At the end of last year, the government set out its long-awaited strategy to tackle homelessness in England. It promised to prioritise prevention, eliminate unsuitable temporary accommodation for families, and to halve long-term rough sleeping.

As we said at the time, it was a good start, but the key thing would be whether it genuinely reduced the numbers of people experiencing homelessness, particularly with numbers consistently high.

The official statistics released just last week highlight again the scale of the challenge – the number of children who are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation in England is at the highest level since records began – 85,500 households with children. There were also 48,410 adult-only households in temporary accommodation, up 3.5% from last year.

And earlier in the year, the official rough sleeping statistics identified that 4,793 people were rough sleeping on a single night in autumn in England, the highest number ever recorded. This also marked a 171% increase since 2010 when the rough sleeping snapshot began, and the fourth successive year of increases, turning back all the progress that was made in getting people off the streets during Covid.

We must remember that many other people experience homelessness yet don’t appear in official statistics, and behind every case whether counted or not is a real person, without a home, denied the physical and emotional security, the opportunity and stability that a home provides.  And that all has a cost to the taxpayer and society too.

Tackling homelessness requires urgency and action at national, regional and local levels and on a number of fronts, including ensuring the right advice, services and support are available. But fundamental is ensuring that accommodation is available of the right quality, support and right across the country. The government has committed itself to building 1.5 million new homes. This is a big task, and we need these to be built quickly – with as many of them to be socially rented as possible.

Read more:

• The number of homeless children in England could fill Wembley Stadium twice: ‘A clear failure’
• What are the causes of homelessness?
• Furniture poverty can mean the real difficulties start when homeless people move into a new home

Those working on the frontline of tackling homelessness told us at St Martin-in-the-Field’s Charity last year that 83% of them found it difficult to access housing that meets the needs of the people they support, with over half (55%) telling us that this situation has worsened in the last year. And in the rough sleeping statistics nearly a third (31%) of people sleeping rough reported it was because they didn’t know how to find accommodation or help, and 20% because that there was no homeless accommodation available locally.

The long-awaited Renters’ Rights Act is a relief in the face of these figures and will reduce the number of people becoming homeless because they have been kicked out of their tenancy.

But new homes and wider change will take time. If you are homeless today, time is one thing you do not have. We all need to be doing everything we can to make more accommodation available as fast as possible.

That’s why at St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity we created our Access to Accommodation Programme. Through conversations with charities, frontline workers and people with lived experience of homelessness, we repeatedly heard the same message: organisations are working hard to develop practical housing solutions, but often lack the resources needed to unlock them.

Through this new programme, we have dedicated over £620,000 to support smaller, community-based charities that are developing new ways to either create or unlock accommodation in their local area. Each has seen a significant demand in their services and as a result have been struggling to access accommodation for those they are working with. By providing flexible funding and working alongside organisations to gather insights and learnings, the programme aims not only to deliver immediate housing but also to help identify solutions that could be replicated more widely across the sector.

The purpose of the funding and of each project is to provide housing solutions in local communities, filling the gap created by a spiralling national housing crisis. From re-purposing derelict buildings in Great Yarmouth to building modular homes on unused land in Oxford, all eight projects are designed by teams working closely with those experiencing homelessness. The projects are tackling unmet local needs and will receive significant funding and support from us over the next three years.

Grassroots charities are on the frontlines of the housing crisis, and they know their communities in and out. Faced with growing homelessness despite a new national strategy being in place, it’s important that we support and crucially fund these organisations to create solutions to the crisis for the people they serve. And we are now expanding the programme to be able to support projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too.

World events are undoubtedly casting a heavy shadow and will make economic prospects and funding for public services even more challenging. But with this programme, and the partners we are supporting, we hope at St Martin’s Charity to show that it is possible to make a real, practical and tangible difference, making more appropriate accommodation available to help people move out of and away from homelessness.

We hope this will encourage government, local councils and other funders to invest in similar such initiatives, so more people can have a safe and secure place to call home.

Duncan Shrubsole is CEO of St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity

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