Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authority applicants there have been to the Rapid Rehousing Pathway Early Adopters Fund 2019-20 since October 2018; how much money has been awarded from that fund; and what the average amount was that was awarded to applicants.

Between October 2018 and March 2019 local authorities were invited to bid for funding for one or more of the Rapid Rehousing Pathway interventions, for their area.

53 ‘early adopters’ of the Rapid Rehousing Pathway were announced between December 2018 and February 2019, backed by £16 million of funding. This included 11 Somewhere Safe to Stay hubs across the country, which have been operational since the spring, helping to provide rapid support to rough sleepers and those at risk.

As part of the Rapid Rehousing Pathway 2019/20 round, in May 2019 we announced funding of £25 million for a further 108 areas, across all four elements of the Rapid Rehousing Pathway. This included funding for an additional 20 Somewhere Safe to Stay hubs.

In total, and accounting for overlap between the two funding rounds, between December 2018 and May 2019 we announced 137 Rapid Rehousing Pathway areas, backed by £41 million of funding. This, therefore, represents an average award to local authorities of approximately £300,000.