Near 750% increase in spending on short-term emergency accommodation in Gateshead.
Gateshead Council spending on emergency short-term accommodation for the homeless has increased by more than £1.1m since 2021/2022.
Local authority spending on emergency short-term accommodation for people who are homeless has jumped from £156, 871 in 2021/22 to £1.3m in 2023/24. At the end of May 2024, there were 109 Gateshead households in temporary accommodation, 48 of which were in emergency short-term accommodation.
These figures, provided by Gateshead Council, come as a local authority report highlighting homeless accommodation and direct access to emergency and crisis accommodation as a “challenge”. In addition, the same report also expresses concern over the increased length of time people are in emergency B&B placements.
Cabinet member for adult social care, and former cabinet member for housing, coun John Adams told committee members homelessness across the country is increasing due to long-standing Conservative Government cuts and the cost-of-living crisis.
Coun John Adams said: “Just to stress to people this is a national issue with waiting lists and social housing waiting lists. I think the Local Government Association (LGA) estimated that councils across the country are spending something like £2bn on temporary accommodation just because the nature of homeless presentations is going up and up and up in a period of austerity and cost-of-living crisis.
“We’ve always had a certain amount of provision and we are expanding the provision we have for people who are homeless but the demand is much higher.”
Coun Adams Continued: “The demand has just exploded in the last few years and we have seen many councils struggling very much with this.”
Analysis from the LGA on October 26 2023 found the number of households living in temporary accommodation has risen by 89% over the last decade to 104,000 households at the end of March 2023. This marked the highest levels since figures began in 1998 and cost the council at least £1.74b in 2022/23.
A Gateshead Council spokesperson said: “Reflecting a national and broader regional trend, Gateshead Council is experiencing high levels of demand on housing and homelessness services, increasing our use of temporary accommodation, and the length of time it is taking to rehouse people who are homeless.
“To help resolve the pressures on local housing and homelessness services the council has developed a comprehensive strategy and action plan, which is being regularly monitored and reviewed, to make sure homelessness is as rare and as brief as possible in Gateshead.”
According to the scrutiny report, the local authority had had successful funding bids to deliver new support housing schemes for people over 25 and between 18 to 25 from the ‘Single Homeless Accommodation Programme’.