There is much to celebrate in the new Homelessness Strategy, starting with the fact that it exists at all. Unlike previous attempts at addressing homelessness, this strategy is more upfront about the scale of the problem. Moreover, it has been produced as part of a new cross-departmental unit, with input from the Lived Experience Forums, as well as the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Expert Group, both of which Justlife has contributed to.
Where previous attempts have focused solely on rough sleeping, this strategy acknowledges it as just one, important, but small cog in the wheel by putting Temporary Accommodation (TA) at its centre. The stated intention to improve TA standards is something we have campaigned for since setting up nearly 18 years ago. The need for standards, and their regulation, to improve has only become more urgent since.
Prevention is another welcome focus in the strategy. Preventing homelessness from happening in the first place avoids the devastating impact on individuals as well as thinly stretched local authority budgets. Sitting alongside the ambition to build more social and affordable homes, homelessness is addressed both ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’, as well as across different government departments.
This is important, but the 132,410 households, including 172,420 children, currently stuck in TA will not feel the benefits of this. They are already in crisis and need urgent support. We therefore specifically welcome:
The increased funding for TA, including £950m for local authorities to invest in good-quality temporary accommodation
The commitment to eliminate the illegal use of B&Bs for families
The ongoing consultation on applying the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to temporary accommodation
The introduction of a notification system that alerts GPs, other healthcare providers and schools when a child is placed in temporary accommodation. This is something we have campaigned for through the Safe Campaign
The focus on identifying and meeting support needs, ensuring families in temporary accommodation have access to key facilities, the Five Basics, and preventing unnecessary multiple moves
Aside from the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, first announced in the Child Poverty Strategy, the Homelessness Strategy is mostly a compilation of smaller measures. Among them, we particularly welcome:
The collaboration on reducing the number of people being released into homelessness from public institutions, including prisons and the asylum-, care- and healthcare systems
The ambition to reduce inappropriate ‘out of area’ placements, far from people’s community and support structures, through improved data collection and sharing
The reconvening of the Lived Experience Forums, which we helped facilitate alongside Revolving Doors, Groundswell, and some of the brilliant people with lived experience of homelessness that we work alongside
However, despite the positives, there is much more that needs to be done. Most notably, the decision not to return the Local Housing Allowance to 30% of market rates to reflect the true cost of private homes is disappointing. For a strategy so focussed on prevention, it's a missed opportunity to not put more money in people’s pockets and help them remain in their homes. Alongside considering the removal of the Benefit Cap, we urge the government to reassess the human and financial value of this decision.
Likewise, closing the TA subsidy gap would have put local authorities on a more sustainable footing. Currently local authorities can’t claim enough money back from the DWP on their TA costs, and it’s affecting their ability to finance the prevention efforts that the government rightly pushes for.
Additionally, the commitments on building social and affordable housing are too low. While 300k social and affordable homes over 10 years would mark the biggest increase in a generation, the reality of the crisis means we need 90k social homes built every year over that time.
Without these measures, people will continue to fall into homelessness in large numbers, and local authorities will continue to be stretched.
But the ambition has been set out clearly by the Housing and Homelessness Ministers in their forewords, and the strategy itself represents a very welcome shift in focus and approach. The challenge now is to go further where necessary, and implement the commitments that have been made. Clear timelines, accountability and sustained momentum across government will determine whether this strategy delivers for the people who need it most.
At Justlife, we will continue to stand alongside all those who find themselves in temporary accommodation, and work with the government to make this the national priority it should be.
