2 Alleviating homelessness
14. In 2002 the Homelessness Directorate established
targets aimed at alleviating two of the most extreme symptoms
of homelessness. They were intended to reduce the level of rough
sleeping and to address the exposure of children to Bed and Breakfast
accommodation, which is often of a poor standard and may involve
sharing facilities. The targets were:
- to sustain levels of rough
sleeping that are two thirds below the levels recorded in 1998;
- that by March 2004, local authorities will ensure
that no homeless family with children has to live in a Bed and
Breakfast hotel, except in an emergency, and then for no longer
than for six weeks.
15. Through better identification and co-ordinated
support of vulnerable adults, significant progress has been made
in reducing the levels of rough sleeping. Local authorities produce
official data on rough sleepers by making an annual count or estimate
of people sleeping on the street. The number of rough sleepers
recorded in this way has fallen nationally by over 70% between
1998 and 2004 to just over 500.[19]
Research suggests that the number of people sleeping rough over
the course of a year may be ten times the number on a single night.
London, in particular, continues to attract a relatively large
number of rough sleepers and the target of a two-thirds reduction
has not yet been achieved.[20]
16. Since rough sleepers often have complex problems,
they are especially likely to fall into a pattern of repeat homelessness.
Of the 700 people who moved on from rough sleeping hostels in
Westminster, half left as an eviction, abandonment or by their
own arrangements.[21]
Rough sleepers need help to address their most pressing initial
problems and then access "move on" accommodation (hostels
providing appropriate levels of support, and later perhaps self-contained
accommodation with less support) to help their rehabilitation
back to a more settled life. For the hostel improvement programme
to be a success, it needs to encourage a greater proportion of
hostel residents to stay the course and move on in a structured
way.
17. Reducing the number of families living in Bed
and Breakfast accommodation from 6,700 in March 2002 to 28 families
in March 2004 was a significant achievement.[22]
On 1 April 2004, legislation came into force which enshrined the
Bed and Breakfast target in law, and allowed families to take
legal action against their local authority if they are placed
in Bed and Breakfast accommodation beyond the six-week limit.
18. Bed and Breakfast accommodation is an expensive
option and total savings achieved by local authorities using alternatives
could be around £40-50 million. Targeted funding from the
Homelessness Directorate allowed local authorities to try out
new approaches and to mainstream them where successful.[23]
Such "investment to save" represents good value for
money. ODPM told us that 82 local authorities had subsequently
established "invest to save" budgets with an average
value of £143,000 per authority.[24]
ODPM needs to promote the innovative solutions identified by the
National Audit Office such as on-line clearing houses to provide
free quick access to private sector tenancies, rent deposit schemes,
loft conversion schemes to provide accommodation for larger families
and finding private rented accommodation on a two year lease as
an alternative to statutory temporary accommodation.[25]
19. It is important that homeless people are not
moved out of one unsatisfactory form of temporary accommodation
into another. Whilst in general the alternatives to Bed and Breakfast
are better, standards are still variable. Some 20% of local authorities
surveyed by the National Audit Office consider that the quality
of accommodation had not improved in recent years.[26]
The National Audit Office found one bedroom flats being used as
self contained hostels for families of four and a family hostel
in which cooking facilities, three beds and living space were
contained in a single room.[27]
20. Statutory standards apply to all temporary accommodation
used, and there is guidance on how to ensure that accommodation
is suitable for the households placed in it. ODPM has some work
in hand to strengthen the statutory guidance, to cover such issues
as light and minimum space requirements.[28]
However, no assurance is provided centrally on the quality of
accommodation used, and not all local authorities in London carry
out enforcement action as regularly as they should.[29]
21. The Housing Act 2004 introduced mandatory licensing
for some types of houses in multiple occupation. This legislation
allows local authorities to have much more influence over the
quality of private rented sector lettings. ODPM accepted that
it needed to promote the Act more generally across the country,
and especially in areas where local authorities have not felt
that they had a homelessness problem.[30]
19 C&AG's Report, Figure 20 Back
20
ibid, para 2.30 Back
21
ibid, para 2.38 Back
22
ibid, para 2.6; Q 8 Back
23
C&AG's Report, para 2.14 Back
24
Ev 19 Back
25
C&AG's Report, Case Examples 11-13 Back
26
ibid, para 2.20 Back
27
ibid, paras 2.20, 2.24 Back
28
Q 11 Back
29
C&AG's Report, para 2.22 Back
30
Qq 54-55 Back
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