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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that rough sleepers who have been granted accommodation for the duration of the covid-19 outbreak will be able to remain housed safely, in the long term.

Almost 15,000 vulnerable people, including those who were street homeless, have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period, according to returns from local authorities to MHCLG.

Building on the considerable success so far,?we?announced that Dame Louise Casey is spearheading a Taskforce to lead the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during this pandemic.??The Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return to the streets.

On 24 May the Government announced radical plans to provide thousands of long-term, safe homes for vulnerable rough sleepers taken off the streets during this pandemic. This ambitious commitment will be backed by £160 million this year through accelerating plans for the £381 million announced for rough sleeping services at Budget, bringing the total to £433 million over the lifetime of this parliament.

This funding will support up to 6,000 rough sleepers into longer term accommodation, with 3,300 units of this accommodation becoming available in the next 12 months. Homes England, in partnership with MHCLG, have pledged to work hand-in-hand with leading housing associations and local authorities to deliver this.

However, we are going even further. On 24 June we also announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the nearly 15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This commitment will help to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets. The funding will cover a range of interventions, from moves into the Private Rented Sector to procuring interim accommodation such as hotels or student accommodation.