Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans reported as homeless in (a) January and (b) February 2024.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 15404 on 1 March 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy applicants pending a decision were reporting as homeless as of 30 January 2024.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On the number of Afghan households previously housed in Home Office hotel accommodation who have since become homeless, please refer to my answer to Question UIN 6726 on 20 December 2023.
The department published data on Afghan homelessness following the closure of Home Office provided bridging accommodation and it can be found at the following link.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (a) approved and (b) eligible Afghans are being housed under homeless provisions.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On the number of Afghan households previously housed in Home Office hotel accommodation who have since become homeless, please refer to my answer to Question UIN 6726 on 20 December 2023.
The department published data on Afghan homelessness following the closure of Home Office provided bridging accommodation and it can be found at the following link.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, column 911, what estimate he has made of the number of people that will be housed in temporary accommodation in (a) December 2023, (b) January 2024 and (c) February 2024.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The majority of Afghan families have been successfully moved out of bridging accommodation into longer-term accommodation. Less than 15% of households in bridging hotels at the end of March 2023 are owed a homelessness duty and in local authority temporary accommodation.
The Government has made £35 million of funding available for local authorities to provide increased support for Afghan households to move from hotels into settled accommodation.
There is also a similar package of support in place to help those who are due to arrive in the next few months. Government is supporting efforts to ensure households are matched, where possible, into accommodation ahead of their travel. Where this is not possible transitional accommodation will be provided for the short period of time until the property they are matched to is ready for them, or whilst they are waiting for a suitable match. The Government is working to ensure a sufficient pipeline of properties are available to local authorities to use to accommodate these families, before the transitional accommodation closes. Ultimately a small number may end up relying on local homelessness prevention and funding is provided to cover this eventuality.
We will continue to support the Afghan cohort into settled housing, including through the £450 million third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund which follows the first two rounds of £750 million. This funding will help ensure those local authorities which have been most generous in welcoming arrivals are not penalised with longer social housing waiting list.
.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of veterans who were homeless in each month in 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
DLUHC publishes statutory homelessness statistics for England which is available at - Homelessness statistics. The most recent statistics (January to March 2023) shows 560 (0.7%) households owed a homelessness duty included a member with a support need due to service in HM Forces. Homelessness statistics for the next quarter (April to June 2023) will be published on 30 November. The Government is providing £33 million over the next 3 years to increase the service provided to veterans, which includes £20 million for the Veteran Housing Capital Fund which will be used to modernise, rebuild and expand our veteran housing network. This is in addition to £8.55 million funding announced last year for more than 900 veteran supported housing units with specialist help for former armed forces personnel.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans were reported as being homeless in each year since 2010.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
DLUHC publishes statutory homelessness statistics for England which is available at - Homelessness statistics. The most recent statistics (January to March 2023) shows 560 (0.7%) households owed a homelessness duty included a member with a support need due to service in HM Forces. Homelessness statistics for the next quarter (April to June 2023) will be published on 30 November. The Government is providing £33 million over the next 3 years to increase the service provided to veterans, which includes £20 million for the Veteran Housing Capital Fund which will be used to modernise, rebuild and expand our veteran housing network. This is in addition to £8.55 million funding announced last year for more than 900 veteran supported housing units with specialist help for former armed forces personnel.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans are reporting as homeless.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
DLUHC publishes statutory homelessness statistics for England which is available at - Homelessness statistics. The most recent statistics (January to March 2023) shows 560 (0.7%) households owed a homelessness duty included a member with a support need due to service in HM Forces. Homelessness statistics for the next quarter (April to June 2023) will be published on 30 November. The Government is providing £33 million over the next 3 years to increase the service provided to veterans, which includes £20 million for the Veteran Housing Capital Fund which will be used to modernise, rebuild and expand our veteran housing network. This is in addition to £8.55 million funding announced last year for more than 900 veteran supported housing units with specialist help for former armed forces personnel.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs of 19 September 2023 on Resettlement of Afghans, Official Report, column 1254, how many ARAP (a) principles and (b) dependents are housed in temporary accommodation under the local authority homelessness provision in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The majority of Afghan families have been moved out of bridging accommodation into longer-term accommodation. Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head.
Since 1 July 2023, the Department has been monitoring homelessness duties owed by English local authorities following the closure of Home Office provided bridging accommodation and this data is available on gov.uk at the following link.
There is a generous package of support available including £35 million of funding for councils to support Afghan households to move into settled accommodation, and the £750 million Local Authority Housing Fund for English councils to obtain housing for those on the Afghan and Ukrainian schemes who are at risk of homelessness. The fund is expected to provide over 4,000 homes by 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs of 19 September 2023 on Resettlement of Afghans, Official Report, column 1254, how many (a) individuals and (b) families from Afghanistan are being housed in temporary accommodation under the local authority homelessness provision as of 17 October 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The majority of Afghan families have been moved out of bridging accommodation into longer-term accommodation. Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head.
Since 1 July 2023, the Department has been monitoring homelessness duties owed by English local authorities following the closure of Home Office provided bridging accommodation and this data is available on gov.uk at the following link.
There is a generous package of support available including £35 million of funding for councils to support Afghan households to move into settled accommodation, and the £750 million Local Authority Housing Fund for English councils to obtain housing for those on the Afghan and Ukrainian schemes who are at risk of homelessness. The fund is expected to provide over 4,000 homes by 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral statement of 19 September 2023 by the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Official Report columns 1253 to 1255, how many Afghan families in temporary accommodation under the local authority homelessness provision received at least one offer of permanent accommodation before 31 August 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This information is not held by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.