The year in review: homelessness and rough sleeping

In March, lawyers working with homelessness charity Shelter provided some clarity to the situation after winning a high court case which determined that local authorities could legally provide emergency accommodation to rough sleepers with no recourse to public funds for the duration of the pandemic.

However, as Inside Housing reported in May, some councils were still refusing to provide accommodation to some rough sleepers despite the court case.

In July, Inside Housing revealed that the government had told councils to close the hotels they had used to house people during lockdowns as a condition of the latest round of rough sleeper funding. The government responded to this story in the same way as it had to several other reports about the Everyone In scheme winding up, by insisting the scheme was still “ongoing”.

Now, as reported by Inside Housing last week, the government is being taken to court by a claimant who is arguing that the government privately ended the scheme while ministers were publicly declaring that it was ongoing. The case is due to be heard in the high court today.

In other homelessness news, exempt accommodation – a type of supported housing that is often used to house people who have been homeless – has come under increased scrutiny over the past year.

Councils and housing professionals have argued that the lack of regulation of the sector has allowed unscrupulous landlords to exploit the rules that let them claim huge amounts of housing benefit in exchange for providing very minimal levels of support.

Last week, the Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities Committee launched a formal investigation into this type of housing.

Finally, the future of Housing First in England currently remains up in the air.

In 2018, the government provided funding for three pilots of the popular initiative, which has been shown to work in reducing long-term rough sleeping in other countries and cities worldwide. The funding for these pilots is due to end in March, however the Autumn Budget was silent on any additional funding for Housing First.

Before the Budget, Inside Housing reported that thousands of rough sleepers currently being supported through the programme are at risk of returning to the streets if the funding is not extended.