Homelessness: Funding

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to contribute with you in the Chair, Mr Vickers. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on securing this debate. He has focused homeless prevention, but we need also to think seriously about homeless recovery and permanence as we move forward.

It is right that Housing First provides that blueprint for us. I thank Professor Nicholas Pleace at the University of York for all his work on that, and for showing the value to people as well as the economy of putting housing first. We need to be able to support the transition into Housing First, particularly changing accommodation. We are trying to retrofit our hostels to ensure that there are single-based units to accommodate people in that path to permanence. I also draw the Minister’s attention to some of the work the Salvation Army has done. We have a NAPpad, which is a temporary unit where people experiencing chronic street homelessness can see a transition step into accommodation, by having a very simplified unit which gives them the feeling of independence but comes before taking that big step into Housing First.

I agree with colleagues that we need to look at the local housing allowance again. It is far too limited. It is almost at 50% in York, which goes nowhere near the costs. The local authority then has to pick up the tab for the differentials that people experience. That is unsustainable, not least as we have the lowest funded unitary authority in the country yet far from the most affluent. I also have my eye on the Department for Work and Pensions budget. We spent £31.8 billion on housing support, so I urge the Government to look again at rent controls, because we are seeing a spike in the escalation of housing costs in the private rented sector, which is often where people find themselves. That is unsustainable. People are falling out of housing but cannot get back in. Looking at rent controls is important, alongside social build, which we know is really needed as well.

Supporting People has been mentioned. That was introduced by the last Labour Government and was absolutely a game changer in recognising the holistic needs. We have heard about the financial and health risks people have, but also the levels of trauma. We do not have a real focus on trauma capacity to support people. Supporting People did keep people in their homes, provide support, build resilience and gave people independence and confidence so they could manage their own affairs and be able to sustain their living. I trust we can look again at how we can ringfence that money and ensure we address those complex needs. As York introduces its focus round a multidisciplinary, multi-agency, independent team to provide that support, we need to ensure we do not only move people out from the streets into temporary accommodation, but also break the cycle of homelessness into the future.