COMMENT 23


many vulnerable people are wholly reliant on charitable agencies or they simply fall though the net and have to somehow fend for themselves. The LGA has once again called on the


Government to lift the restrictions on councils’ borrowing caps, a move which Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell recently ruled out. Just prior to the recent budget, the LGA asked the Government to allow councils to set their own rents, to keep 100 per cent of their Right to Buy receipts to reinvest in replace- ment homes and make the high-value asset levy a voluntary policy. Conservative politician and chair of the


LGA Lord Gary Porter said: “With councils continuing to face huge financial pressures, it is unsustainable for them to have to spend £2m a day to house vulnerable people at the sharp end of our housing crisis. Councils would much rather invest this scarce resource in building new affordable homes and preventing homelessness happening in the first place.” Ministers responded (in part) by making


£402m of funding available over the next two years, with the money being targeted at the councils with the greatest homelessness demand. There will be £186m in 2017/18 and £191m in 2018/19, with £25m set aside for London councils to work together to


provide homelessness accommodation. While any additional money will help,


many experts in the sector say this money is not new and is simply being taken from other social care funding pots and it’s a case of robbing Peter in order to pay Paul. Local government leaders are desperate to


play a more active part in resolving the current. But more radical solutions are needed if they are to positively tackle the growth in homelessness. As evictions from private rented sector tenancies are the major cause of homelessness at present, it would appear logical to tackle the problem at source and make it less easy for private landlords to evict tenants who have not broken any tenancy conditions.


NEW DUTIES The new homelessness reduction act seeks to prevent homelessness by placing extra duties on councils to intervene at an earlier stage with households who are at risk of homelessness, provide more detailed advice on housing options for those at risk of homelessness, and make it easier for applicants to appeal a decision. The Government is making £61m of


funding available for councils to cover these new duties in the first two years. But once again, council leaders have said this will not cover the full extra costs which


their councils will face. Jon Sparkes, chief executive of homeless-


ness charity Crisis, spoke for many about the bittersweet moment of getting the new law, when he said: “This is an important moment for tackling homelessness and a major victory for those calling for change. “Yet even as we mark this success, we are


reminded of why it is so urgently needed. The number of people in temporary accom- modation in England continues to rise. This is the sharp end of the housing crisis, and while this bill is by no means a cure-all, it is a vital part of the solution, and will help to prevent more people from losing their home in the first place.” Now is the time for Theresa May and her


Government to demonstrate they are listen- ing. If May is serious about targeting help towards the just about managing and the most vulnerable members of society, then taking more radical steps would be a good place to start along with giving local councils the tools that they and the LGA have been asking for. If they do not, then I’m afraid we risk


staying on this spiral of growing numbers becoming homeless and councils spending a fortune on placing them in unsuitable, temporary accommodation instead of build- ing them secure and affordable homes for now and the future.


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