After the Mayoral Elections: What next for homelessness?
Sarah MacFadyen
Policy and Parliamentary Officer, Crisis
The National Context: rising homelessness
• Homelessness approaches are up 6% in the last year, and acceptances are up 14%
• Rough sleeping nationally is up 23%
In London:
• Approaches are up 6%, acceptances 25%
• Rough sleeping is up 8%
Welfare reform: Housing Benefit
• 4.95 million people now claim HB – an all time high
• The HB bill is £22bn
• It is being cut by around £2 billion
• A further £10bn will be cut from welfare in the next spending round – we don’t yet know where these cuts will fall
Welfare reform: Housing Benefit
• LHA cuts will see almost a million people losing an average of £12 per week
• In London, the impact is worse – the average loss is £22 per week
• The extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate will see 62,500 people lose £41 per week
Also:
• Social housing under-occupancy cut
•Total benefits cap
Supporting People and service cuts
• Supporting People funding has been de-ringfenced and some areas are seeing cuts of up to 45%
• This is affecting frontline service provision
• Over half of hostels have seen their funding cut, and there are 2,200 fewer bed spaces than there were 2 years ago
• Future of Housing Benefit for hostels and supported accommodation in doubt
Homelessness safety net and social housing
• Localism Act allows councils to discharge homeless households into the private rented sector, instead of guaranteeing a social home
• There is still no duty to secure accommodation for non-priority need homeless people – typically single adults
• Short social housing tenancies are being introduced – these could be as short as 2 years
A Perfect Storm…
• High unemployment, low wages and a struggling economy are pushing up homelessness
• Welfare reform and changes to the homelessness duty will erode the safety net that has traditionally acted as a buffer between poverty and homelessness
• Funding cuts mean that there is less support available to those who do become homeless
• London is being hit particularly hard
What powers does the mayor have?
• Full, strategic control over housing, regeneration and economic development in London
• Housing budget of £3 billion
• New housing board to decide how to spend it – Homes for London
• Homelessness budget of £34 million
• Ability to coordinate action across the whole of London, bringing together local authorities, other agencies and the voluntary sector
Previous mayoral term
• Mayor pledged to end rough sleeping in London by the end of 2012
• Progress was made – rough sleeping came down and three quarters of the 205 rough sleepers identified as the most entrenched were helped off the streets
• London Delivery Board – bringing together boroughs, charities and other agencies including NHS and police – coordinated strategic action across the city
• No Second Night Out
Housing
• 54,000 new affordable homes delivered during the last mayoral term
• Pledge to deliver a further 50,000 during the next term
• Of course, we need far more than this – but it’s a start
A commitment to housing – but not homelessness?
It is these opportunity areas that will help us to tackle London’s housing crisis – but we will go further. Yes, I am proud that we have defied the sceptics and built a record 52,000 affordable homes over the last four years. Now I intend to create a
new agency – Homes for London – that will bring 530 hectares of public land together and make that land available for development.
Boris Johnson’s 2012 manifesto
A private rented sector that works for everyone, providing
secure and affordable accommodation of a decent standard
Summary
• Homelessness nationally is rising, and will continue to do so
• London is being particularly badly affected
• The Mayor has made progress on homelessness and rough sleeping in London – but this is being undone by national policy decisions
• There are still things that the Mayor can do to tackle homelessness
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