After the Mayoral Elections: What next for homelessness?

Sarah MacFadyen

Policy and Parliamentary Officer, Crisis

The National Context: rising homelessness

• Homelessness approaches are up 6% in the last year, and acceptances are up 14%

• Rough sleeping nationally is up 23%

In London:

• Approaches are up 6%, acceptances 25%

• Rough sleeping is up 8%

Welfare reform: Housing Benefit

• 4.95 million people now claim HB – an all time high

• The HB bill is £22bn

• It is being cut by around £2 billion

• A further £10bn will be cut from welfare in the next spending round – we don’t yet know where these cuts will fall

Welfare reform: Housing Benefit

• LHA cuts will see almost a million people losing an average of £12 per week

• In London, the impact is worse – the average loss is £22 per week

• The extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate will see 62,500 people lose £41 per week

Also:

• Social housing under-occupancy cut

•Total benefits cap

Supporting People and service cuts

• Supporting People funding has been de-ringfenced and some areas are seeing cuts of up to 45%

• This is affecting frontline service provision

• Over half of hostels have seen their funding cut, and there are 2,200 fewer bed spaces than there were 2 years ago

• Future of Housing Benefit for hostels and supported accommodation in doubt

Homelessness safety net and social housing

• Localism Act allows councils to discharge homeless households into the private rented sector, instead of guaranteeing a social home

• There is still no duty to secure accommodation for non-priority need homeless people – typically single adults

• Short social housing tenancies are being introduced – these could be as short as 2 years

A Perfect Storm…

• High unemployment, low wages and a struggling economy are pushing up homelessness

• Welfare reform and changes to the homelessness duty will erode the safety net that has traditionally acted as a buffer between poverty and homelessness

• Funding cuts mean that there is less support available to those who do become homeless

• London is being hit particularly hard

What powers does the mayor have?

• Full, strategic control over housing, regeneration and economic development in London

• Housing budget of £3 billion

• New housing board to decide how to spend it – Homes for London

• Homelessness budget of £34 million

• Ability to coordinate action across the whole of London, bringing together local authorities, other agencies and the voluntary sector

Previous mayoral term

• Mayor pledged to end rough sleeping in London by the end of 2012

• Progress was made – rough sleeping came down and three quarters of the 205 rough sleepers identified as the most entrenched were helped off the streets

• London Delivery Board – bringing together boroughs, charities and other agencies including NHS and police – coordinated strategic action across the city

• No Second Night Out

Housing

• 54,000 new affordable homes delivered during the last mayoral term

• Pledge to deliver a further 50,000 during the next term

• Of course, we need far more than this – but it’s a start

A commitment to housing – but not homelessness?

It is these opportunity areas that will help us to tackle London’s housing crisis – but we will go further. Yes, I am proud that we have defied the sceptics and built a record 52,000 affordable homes over the last four years. Now I intend to create a

new agency – Homes for London – that will bring 530 hectares of public land together and make that land available for development.

Boris Johnson’s 2012 manifesto

So what more should the Mayor be doing to prevent and tackle homelessness in London?

Continue work to end rough sleeping and make wider homelessness a priority

All homeless people able to access the healthcare, skills and back-to-work support they need

A significant increase in the supply of genuinely affordable social housing

A private rented sector that works for everyone, providing

secure and affordable accommodation of a decent standard

London’s interests championed at a national policy level

Summary

• Homelessness nationally is rising, and will continue to do so

• London is being particularly badly affected

• The Mayor has made progress on homelessness and rough sleeping in London – but this is being undone by national policy decisions

• There are still things that the Mayor can do to tackle homelessness

Any questions?

sarah.macfadyen@crisis.org.uk