Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2030
On 2 December 2024, the Council’s Cabinet approved and adopted its renewed Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, and takes effect from 1 January 2025. The Strategy will focus on preventing and relieving homelessness and rough sleeping over the next 5 years.
The Council consulted with public and local authorities, statutory and non-statutory services and service users during the development. We would like to thank all those who took part during the consultation stages. Feedback and insights were used to inform the final document.
About the Strategy
The Council's new Strategy places strong emphasis on early intervention and preventing homelessness, improving advice and information given to residents and improving housing options. It also focuses on increasing the availability of affordable housing while reducing the Council's reliance on the use of private sector temporary accommodation, and to use resources, both internal and external, more effectively.
The Strategy focuses on five strategic priorities over the 5-year term:
- Early intervention and prevention
- Improve advice, information and options
- Increase available affordable housing and reduce our reliance on private sector temporary accommodation
- Use available resourced more effectively
- Reduce and work towards ending rough sleeping
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Review
As part of the development of the Strategy, the Council undertook a review of homelessness and rough sleeping in the district. The information gathered by the review was used to influence the strategic priorities of the Strategy, as well as many of the actions within the Action Plan.
You can read the full review below. However, in summary:
- The Council assessed 3,478 households over the past 5 years. 79% were owed support by the Council, either to prevent them becoming homeless, or to provide relief from homelessness.
- Based on quarterly returns, on average 177 households were living in temporary accommodation per quarter. 53% of this average (94) were households with dependent children. To date, there are in the region of 300 households living in temporary accommodation in the district.
- The number of individuals sleeping rough in the district on any given night has fluctuated but has reduced significantly from 20 in 2018 to 5 in 2021. However in recent years the figure has increased, in 2023 it was estimated that there were 9 rough sleepers in the district.
- In general, the cost of homelessness to the Council continues to increase. Over the past 5 years it has increased on average by 26% each year, and by 2023/24 the cost had doubled to around £2.5 million from around £1.3 million in 2019/20.
- In 2023/24 the Council spent almost £2.5 million alone on temporary accommodation, almost double the amount spent in 2019/20.
Documents