Homelessness: Coronavirus

(asked on 9th June 2020) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to extend their contracts with hotels and bed and breakfasts to offer temporary accommodation for those who require it until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Answered by
Lord Greenhalgh Portrait
Lord Greenhalgh
This question was answered on 15th June 2020

Nearly 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the COVID-19 emergency began. This includes people coming in directly from the streets, people previously housed in shared night shelters and people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping during the pandemic.

The Government asked Dame Louise Casey to?spearhead a specialist taskforce to lead the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during the pandemic. The taskforce will work hand-in-hand with councils across the country on plans to ensure rough sleepers can move into long-term, safe accommodation once the immediate crisis is over – ensuring as few people as possible return to life on the streets.

We announced on 24 May radical plans to provide thousands of long-term, safe homes for vulnerable rough sleepers taken off the streets during this pandemic. This ambitious commitment will be backed by £160 million this year through accelerating plans for the £381 million announced for rough sleeping services at Budget, bringing the total to £433 million over the lifetime of this parliament. This funding will ensure that 6,000 new housing units will be put into the system, with 3,300 units of this accommodation becoming available in the next 12 months.

We are working intensively with local authorities to design plans for next steps which includes consideration of the role of hotels. We continue to explore this and are working with national organisations to do so, alongside councils.

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