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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Next Steps Accommodation Programme

29 Jul 2020 - 15:48 by michelle.foster

mhclgThe Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) invites local authorities, registered providers, and their local partners to engage with the next stage of the COVID-19 Rough Sleeping response.

There have been approximately 15,000 vulnerable people housed in hotels and other forms of emergency accommodation, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes people coming in directly from the streets, people previously housed in shared night shelters and people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping during the pandemic. This is a truly remarkable achievement, and one which is the result of the hard work of local government, the NHS, other health partners, agencies and charities across the country, who have helped to get people off the street and into safe accommodation, protecting the most vulnerable in society and ultimately saving lives.  

This is a critical stage in the continued support for rough sleepers, and those at risk, and attention must now shift to ensure that as few individuals as possible return to the streets following this initial period of accommodation. This opportunity must also be used to take steps to end rough sleeping for good.

This means ensuring that the current provision that has been set up to safeguard people who were taken safely from the streets is able to continue for an appropriate length of time, with a planned transition to more sustainable interim accommodation options until vital longer term move-on accommodation can be put in place.

The Next Steps Accommodation Programme makes available the financial resources needed to support local authorities and their partners to do this work. It includes capital for property costs and an attached long-term revenue stream to ensure people are supported in their new tenancies. Additional revenue funding is also available to support a range of initiatives, like moves into the private rented sector, interim accommodation and reconnection with friends and families.

Alongside this funding expertise from MHCLG’s Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) and Homelessness Advice and Support (HAST) Adviser Teams will be made available to help coproduce accommodation provision and related support services, under the oversight of the Dame Louise Casey led COVID-19 Rough Sleeping Taskforce.

There are two different aspects to this fund. One aspect is for long-term accommodation and support for rough sleepers and the remainder is for interim accommodation and support for the 15,000 vulnerable people accommodated during the pandemic. Outside of London, both these aspects of funding are administered through a single process. Inside Greater London, applications for long-term accommodation and support will be administered by the GLA, while the funding for immediate and interim support will be administered by MHCLG.

For more information and to apply click here

Deadline: 20 August 2020

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