- Homelessness Prevention Grant will support the homeless and those at risk of losing their home
- Councils will use the funding to help people find a new home, get help with evictions, or move into temporary accommodation
- Funding includes extra support for those forced into homelessness by domestic abuse
Torbay’s MP Kevin Foster has welcomed news Torbay will be receiving £761,909 of support from the Government to prevent homelessness in our bay and to support those forced into homelessness by domestic abuse. The news is part of a £316 million funding boost, announced by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The government’s Homelessness Prevention Grant will support households in England who are homeless or at risk of losing their home. Councils will use the funding to help them find a new home, access support for unexpected evictions and secure temporary accommodation where needed.
The funding package includes an additional £5.8 million to support people forced into homelessness by domestic abuse. This follows the landmark Domestic Abuse Act, which ensures councils give people who find themselves in this situation a “priority need” for assistance.
Funding will be allocated to all councils responsible for housing in England based on local homelessness need in individual areas. In 2022/23 Torbay Council will receive £745,580 from the Homelessness Prevention Grant and an additional £16,329 in relation to supporting those forced into homelessness by domestic abuse.
This underlines the government’s commitment to ensure people at risk of becoming homeless, across the country, get help more quickly. Since the Homelessness Reduction Act came into force in 2018, over 400,000 households have been successfully prevented from losing their homes or supported into settled accommodation, with rough sleeping levels falling 37% between 2019 and 2020.
The Homelessness Prevention Grant, available for 2022/23, is on top of the recently-announced £66 million to provide rough sleepers with safe and warm accommodation and drug and alcohol treatment services this winter, and £65 million support package for vulnerable renters struggling due to the impact of the pandemic. Overall, the government is investing £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Commenting, Kevin Foster said:
“This latest funding is welcome news, especially for those who find themselves forced into homelessness as the result of domestic abuse. It is vital this funding is used to the best effect locally to ensure some of our most vulnerable residents get the support they need to prevent them ending up without a place to call home.”