By Tony O’Riley-
Leaders across the West Midlands have warned that relationship breakdowns during the full UK lockdown will lead to more homelessness, as they call for further assistance from the British government to prevent further homelessness
Leaders from the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Homeless Taskforce have written to bosses to introduce a range of new measures.
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They are calling on the Government homelessness chief Dame Louise Casey to extend the scale and length of the Housing First scheme, as well as set-up a rent support scheme.
The leaders say they want the current period of no evictions in the rented sector to be extended by another three months, with further incentives offered to increase house building.
The taskforce has also warned of “significant” risk of relationships falling apart during the lockdown as another factor leading to homelessness.
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Last week, the British government vowed to make 3,300 homes available within 12 months to prevent rough sleepers housed in emergency pandemic accommodation in England returning to the streets.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have pledged to bring forward £160m of its £381m, four-year rough sleeping services budget to be spent this year in addressing homelessness.
It also plans to add six thousand “housing units” to be built using the money and rough sleepers housed through the scheme will be provided support for mental health or substance abuse issues.
“This government wants to end rough sleeping for good, and we now have a real opportunity to deliver on this moral mission,” said the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick. “This will be completely transformative and changes the lives of thousands of rough sleepers for the better.”
Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis told The Eye Of Media.Com: Promises of funding is great news but we still need to see how it will be allocated to address the scale of homelessness in the UK.
We have to see whether it will be restricted to those who have been given safe accommodation in hotels, or whether it would include people who have not yet been taken off the street”
Dame Louise Casey, who is leading the government’s rough sleeping Covid-19 response taskforce has already expressed an acknowledgement of the opportunity to end rough sleeping for good
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “The impact of Covid-19 has been severe across the whole of the West Midlands, but our local authorities have done a superb job in protecting our most vulnerable by offering accommodation to every single rough sleeper in the region.
“With so many rough sleepers now housed, we must capitalise on this unique opportunity created by coronavirus to take a major step forward in tackling homelessness.
“We must also be aware that as we move through this crisis, more people will fall into financial difficulty and present themselves as homeless, and we must do everything we can to protect and support them.
“That is why the Homelessness Taskforce has come up with a list of asks for the Government from the West Midlands, which will help improve our prevention work in the region, as well as help to protect those who are homeless now and those who are at risk of becoming so as the virus begins to ease.”
Taskforce
The taskforce is formed of representatives from the WMCA’s seven councils, public services, the voluntary sector and businesses.
It has called for the Government homelessness chief Dame Louise Casey to extend the scale and length of the Housing First scheme, as well as set-up a rent support scheme.
The current period of no evictions in the rented sector should be extended by another three months, it says, with further incentives offered to increase house building.
The taskforce has also warned there is a “significant” risk of relationships falling apart during the lockdown as another factor leading to homelessness.
Councillor Sharon Thompson, chair of WMCA’s members advisory group, said: “Austerity resulted in a homelessness crisis across the country and we cannot allow a repeat as the economy recovers from this pandemic.
“The measures we are calling for will help us sustain progress made at a very challenging time, whilst also equipping us for the challenges to come.
“Our ambition is to help prevent a further homelessness crisis in the coming months and years.
“We can only achieve this with a commitment from Government to provide adequate financial support and policy changes which will help to prevent people from falling into crisis in the first place.”
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