Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, under the Everyone In initiative, local authorities should continue to support people into self-contained emergency accommodation regardless of priority need, local connection or immigration status.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Over 90% of those on the streets?at the beginning of the crisis?known to local authorities have now been made offers of safe accommodation – ensuring some of the most vulnerable in society are protected from the pandemic. This includes those rough sleeping or who have been living in accommodation with communal sleeping spaces such as night shelters.
We are ensuring local authorities are supported, with £3.2 million in targeted funding to help support individuals who are sleeping rough off the streets, and an additional £3.2 billion provided to local authorities as part of the wider Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding has been provided to help local authorities to reduce risks to public health and to support individuals on the basis of need.
The Government is aware of concerns about those with no recourse to public funds experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis. The legal position on those with no recourse to public funds has not been amended. The Government recognises that these are unprecedented times, and expects local authorities to support people who are sleeping rough, and also to minimise unnecessary risks to public health, acting within the law.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) amount, and (2) percentage, of the £3.2 billion funding announced for local authorities during the COVID-19 outbreak will be dedicated to support local authorities to secure self-contained accommodation and provide assistance to people sleeping rough and in night shelters.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The £3.2 billion of funding provided to local government is paid through a grant that is not ring-fenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to decide how this funding is spent. This funding will?enable local authorities to respond to COVID-19 pressures across all?the services they deliver, stepping up support for services helping the most vulnerable, including homeless people.?This is in addition to £3.2 million in targeted funding for councils to support vulnerable rough sleepers.
More than 5,400?rough?sleepers?– over 90% of those on the streets?at the beginning of the crisis?known to local authorities have now been made offers of safe accommodation – ensuring some of the most vulnerable in society are protected from the pandemic.?This includes those rough sleeping or who have been living in accommodation with communal sleeping spaces such as night shelters.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make permanent housing and support, including the Housing First model, the default option for people with complex needs who had previously been sleeping rough and who have been supported under the Everyone In initiative.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
More than 5,400?rough?sleepers?– over 90% of those on the streets?at the beginning of the crisis?known to local authorities have now been made offers of safe accommodation – ensuring some of the most vulnerable in society are protected from the pandemic. This includes those rough sleeping or who have been living in accommodation with communal sleeping spaces such as night shelters.
The Government allocated £28 million to pilot Housing First at scale in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and West Midlands combined authorities in May 2018. Our independent contractors for the evaluation, ICF, are making progress and the first interim process report is due to be published later this year. We will use this to inform any potential future decisions on roll out.
This funding is alongside significant investment including £112m across England in 2020/21 for the Rough Sleeping Initiative to help around 270 areas tackle rough sleeping across 2020/21. The funding is a 30% increase on the previous year and will be used to introduce and expand a range of measures, including housing support and housing-led solutions, as well as specialist support workers.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of empty homes in the England; and what steps they intend to take to reduce the number of such empty homes.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Ministry’s live table 615 which is available (attached) at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes, those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants.
There were 605,891 Vacant Dwellings in England on 2 October 2017, an increase of 16,125 (2.7 per cent) from 589,766 on 3 October 2016. Vacant dwellings were 2.5 per cent of the dwelling stock in England on 2 October 2017.
There were 205,293 Long-Term Vacant Dwellings in England on 2 October 2017, an increase of 5,148 (2.6 per cent) from 200,145 on 3 October 2016 but remain lower than when records began on 1 Nov 2004 (318,642). Long-term vacant dwellings were 0.9 per cent of the dwelling stock in England on 2 October 2017.
Rates of council tax charged on empty homes are a matter for individual local authorities, who will take into account local circumstances in reaching their decision. In 2018, 299 out of 326 authorities reported that they were charging a premium on some of their empty dwellings, up from 291 in 2017.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the ending of the Supporting People programme has had on funding for floating support services for people recovering from, or at risk of, homelessness; and whether those services will be included in their planned review of housing-related support.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Supported housing is an invaluable service for vulnerable people across the country. In August, we announced that we will undertake a review of housing related-support, to help us better understand how housing and support fit together. The review will give us a fuller picture into how housing-related support is provided for supported housing across England.
The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why this summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what priority they place on the redevelopment of empty homes over new builds.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Tackling empty homes is essential to making the best use of the homes we already have. The Government has ensured that local authorities have powers and strong incentives to bring empty homes back in to use, and the number of empty homes has fallen to just over 200,000, down from 300,000 in 2010. These incentives and powers include the New Homes Bonus and the 50% council tax premium for homes empty for two years or longer. We have brought forward legislation that will double the maximum premium rate to 100%. We are also fully committed to delivering more of the right homes in the right places to fix the broken housing market. Our ambitious package of long term reforms puts us on track to create a housing market that delivers 300,000 homes a year on average by the middle of the next decade.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking, or planning to take, to address the concentration of empty homes in low-value housing markets, with specific regard to the housing markets in (1) northern England, and (2) coastal communities.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We continue to support local authorities to encourage efficient use of our existing stock, making best use of homes that have been empty long term. Local authorities have powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one. The Ratings (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill will permit a charge of up to 200 per cent of normal council tax on properties that have been empty for two years or more, instead of the current limit of 150 per cent. Great progress has been made in recent years and the number of empty homes stands at its lowest since records began. At May 2010, over 300,000 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months. As of October 2017, the number of long term empty properties had fallen to 205,293.