The government says it’s pumping £84m into councils to deal with homelessness ahead of winter.

Children and families in temporary accommodation will be prioritised – with the funding to go towards helping families to cover the essentials like food, school travel and laundry. It comes as record levels of households are in temporary accommodation, including nearly 170,000 children. Levels of rough sleeping have more than doubled since 2010.

Areas with the highest pressures, such as London, will be in line for the additional funding to tackle homelessness this year. This comes on top of the government’s almost £1 billion investment to tackle homelessness this year and includes the largest ever investment in prevention services, helping councils intervene early and stop homelessness before it happens. 

The investment provides tailored services for those experiencing long-term rough sleeping – including mental health support, drug and alcohol treatment and sustainable accommodation – ensuring people get the help they need to rebuild their lives.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed says: “Homelessness is a moral stain on our society. Growing numbers of people have been abandoned to sleep rough on the streets and children left in squalid, overcrowded conditions.  This government will not stand idly by and allow that to continue. We will make different choices. That’s why we are investing £1 billion to give homeless people the security of a roof over their heads and get back on track to end homelessness for good.”

The £84m cash injection includes:  

• Nearly £70 million for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant. This is flexible funding for 62 local authorities to prevent people sleeping rough and help them stay off the streets. This could mean strengthening local services on offer, partnering with charities and community organisations, providing sustainable accommodation to help people sleeping rough and specialist physical and mental health support workers and treatment.  
    
• Nearly £11 million to help families with children living in temporary accommodation access basic facilities like Wi-Fi, laundry, travel passes for school and uniform, and help pay for food and leisure activities. While the number of children and families living in B&Bs continues to fall under this government, more must be done to get those that need it into safe, secure homes. This funding will be directed to 61 areas with the highest numbers of children in temporary accommodation to make sure that they can have access to facilities they need and support with costs while they are there.  
     
• £3 million increase for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment element of the wider Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Recovery and Improvement Grant. This funding will be directed to 83 local authorities and a pan-London project, targeted at lifesaving support to people with drug or alcohol related issues who are sleeping rough and at risk of homelessness, including those with co-occurring mental health needs.   

• An uplift of £200,000 for the Voluntary, Community and Frontline Sector Grant which supports innovative faith and community-led initiatives such as night shelters to reduce the number of people experiencing repeat homelessness.