Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2017 to Question 58921, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of re-introducing funding for private rented sector access schemes to support single homeless people to access private rented housing.

Policy proposals to help vulnerable people and low income households to access and maintain tenancies in the Private Rented Sector were discussed at recent meetings of the Affordability & Security Working group. The group is made up of representatives from across the housing sector to look at what more we can do to improve affordability and security within the private rented sector. The working group’s final report is due to be submitted to ministers for consideration by the end of January.

We are committed to preventing homelessness. That is why we have protected £315 million for local authority homelessness prevention funding, secured £149 million central government funding in this Parliament, and we are supporting Bob Blackman’s Homelessness Reduction Bill, which will ensure that everyone who needs it, is supported to prevent a homelessness crisis.

We recently announced the allocation of our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme which is supporting 84 projects covering 225 areas all over England to provide an innovative approach to tackling homelessness, with prevention at its heart. This includes £20m for those at imminent risk of sleeping rough to secure accommodation and get them back on their feet.

We are also investing £100 million to deliver low-cost accommodation for those ready to move on from a homelessness crisis – including rough sleepers leaving hostel accommodation. Details of the bidding process outside London will be announced by the Homes and Communities Agency in the spring.