Arun District Council fail to meet homelessness targets
They blame a challenging private rental sector and the restructure of its housing department.
Arun District Council missed a number of homelessness targets towards the end of the last financial year.
During a Policy and Finance Committee meeting last Thursday (June 30), councillors heard how a number of measures to prevent homelessness were not on target.
Temporary accommodation costs rose and a homelessness prevention target was also missed.
ADC’s target is to prevent homelessness in at least 70 per cent of cases.
But homelessness was prevented in only 52 per cent of cases in the three months to March 2022.
The council says it faces a ‘challenging’ private rental sector alongside a restructure of its housing department.
“Challenges still remain around negotiation with private rental sector landlords who wish to increase rent levels or sell their properties because of the buoyant housing market,” says a council report.
“These challenges limit our abilities to a) keep residents in their current properties and b) find suitable and affordable alternatives.”
The report also notes the lifting of the eviction ban, which was put in place during the pandemic, and a reduction in incomes which has led to ‘affordability issues’.
A total of £723,350 was spent on temporary accommodation as the council dealt with ‘significantly higher’ demand than the previous year.
“The housing market has become so unaffordable for people on low incomes or benefits, that accessing other accommodation has become almost impossible,” according to the progress report.
The figures were included in the council’s six-monthly corporate and service delivery plan which indicates how well services are running and if targets are being met.