Asked by: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will enable local authorities to roll-over unspent funding from the £65 million support package for vulnerable renters announced on 23 October 2021 into 2022-23 to enable them to continue to meet the ongoing needs of renters in arrears and facing eviction as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government announced £65 million funding in October 2021 to help prevent renters with COVID related arrears in England from becoming homeless. This was provided to meet the pressures that local authorities faced this financial year (2021/22).
We will be providing a further £315.8 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2022/2023. This can be used flexibly for local authorities to meet homelessness and rough sleeping strategies – for example, to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions or to provide temporary accommodation, among other preventative measures. Local authorities were informed of their allocations in December 2021 and this funding this will be provided to local authorities in the new financial year.
In addition, and to prevent households falling into arrears in the first place, we are providing support with the cost of living worth over £20 billion across this financial year and next. This includes significant financial support through the Energy Bills Rebate to support households with rising energy costs, reducing the Universal Credit taper rate, maintaining the increase to Local Housing Allowance rates in cash terms this year, and the Household Support Fund which provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. Discretionary Housing Payments are also available to help those who need extra support with housing costs.