More homes needed to house Somerset's homeless
More one-beds will be needed by 2023.
More one-bed properties will need to be secured in Somerset by 2023 to ensure the county’s homeless continue to receive safe support.
Somerset West and Taunton Council has been working with the YMCA Dulverton Group to provide accommodation and support for the district’s homeless at the Canonsgrove Halls of Residence near Taunton.
The facility (which was created as part of the government’s ‘everyone in’ initiative) will continue to operate with existing levels of funding and support until the spring of 2023.
The council is now working to secure alternative accommodation for those currently being supported there to prevent a huge rise in rough sleeping after this date.
Its strategy for the post-Canonsgrove state of affairs was debated by the council’s community scrutiny committee when it met in Taunton on Thursday evening (July 29).
As of May 2021 (the most recent figures available), there are 374 homeless individuals across the district who require single-bed accommodation.
Of these, 287 have their needs currently catered for by the council or its partners, leaving a shortfall of 87 units.
The council is seeking to reduce its reliance on forms of accommodation which would not meet people’s needs in the event of another lockdown or similar crisis – including houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) and temporary accommodation units, such as those at Sneddon Grove and Wheatley Crescent in Taunton.
Simon Lewis, the council’s assistant director for housing and communities, said the authority may have to rely on bed-and-breakfast accommodation if it could not secure more one-bedroom properties in the near-future.
He said in his written report: “While delivering a successful decant of Canonsgrove by March 2023, we are considering how demand would be managed should sufficient alternative new supply not be achieved in time.
“The alternatives will include selective use of bed-and-breakfast accommodation, new lease arrangements and a return to the streets.
“Providing additional ‘move-on’ accommodation is essential to the delivery of this strategy in the short-, medium- and long-term. Supported accommodation becomes ‘silted’ without ‘move-on’ options.
“However, move-on accommodation (often one-bed units or shared facilities) are not always easy to provide – nor are they very popular within the financial portfolio of our registered providers.”
The council’s planning committee voted on July 22 to alter existing legal agreements regarding Canonsgrove to allow it to be used as a homelessness facility until March 31, 2023.
In line with central government targets, the council has promised to end rough sleeping in the district by 2027.
To meet the demand for single-bed properties, the council intends to work with housing providers and voluntary organisations to secure new accommodation in Taunton, Wellington and Minehead.
The council is also considering setting up its own housing company to buy up single-bed units if other schemes do not come forward.
A delivery plan for securing new homes has been created, but has not been made public due to elements which are commercially sensitive.
Councillor Libby Lisgo, who chairs the committee, welcomed the strategy but urged the council not to overlook the housing needs of families in the course of dealing with single people.
She said: “There are significant pressures on housing families – from single parents with children to couples with significantly large families.
“If I were one of those people, I would be thinking (maybe unjustifiably): ‘How come they’re doing all of this for people who are rough sleeping and single, and why aren’t they doing any of this for me?’.”
The strategy will come before the council’s executive committee and the full council for final approval later in the year.