Affordable flats could provide the key for some of Woking's most vulnerable
The government has pledged more than £3,000,000
Some of the most vulnerable in Woking could be handed the key to a new lease of life, if the Borough Council purchase a former disused office block.
Woking Borough Council are seeking to purchase a block of newly converted affordable apartments as move-on accommodation for homeless people.
The empty premises were converted by ThamesWey Ltd, a company wholly owned by Woking Borough Council, into 25 comfortable, self-contained studio apartments. The block of flats will give residents who have fallen on hard times a home for up to three years, whilst they rebuild their lives and secure permanent homes.
The project will be part-funded by grant funding from the Government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP), who have pledged £3,125,000 for the apartment block and a further £364,000 for dedicated support workers.
In March, at the start of the pandemic, they provided emergency accommodation to over 130 homeless people.
Cllr Debbie Harlow, Woking Borough Council’s portfolio holder for housing, said:
“This year, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have placed significant pressure on our housing services. Working in partnership with York Road Project, we were able to offer all rough sleepers a safe and warm room in emergency accommodation.
“We are delighted to have secured this grant funding, which will enable us to provide move-on accommodation and vital support to rough sleepers. It will ensure we can continue to take people safely from the streets and work with them to prevent them ever needing to resort to rough sleeping again.”
Cherisse Dealtry, CEO of York Road Project, said: “York Road Project staff and Council officers have gone above and beyond this year, to ensure that all of our support services and night shelter operations have been able to continue throughout these unprecedented times.
“No one should be without a roof over their head and it is vital that we continue to support the most vulnerable members of our community, to prevent them falling through the cracks of society again once life returns to the new normal.”