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Liverpool housing associations make more than 200 homes available for rough sleepers in hotels
More than 200 housing association properties in Liverpool have been made available for homeless people who have been living in hotels during the coronavirus pandemic, as landlords commit to offering all vacant properties to rough sleepers.
Liverpool City Council is set to pass a new strategy to move rough sleepers on from temporary accommodation, which involves a suspension of the usual choice-based lettings process for housing allocations.
Typically, social housing vacancies in Liverpool are advertised online and applicants are invited to submit bids for properties they are eligible for, with homes then allocated in order of priority. This process is set to be temporarily suspended and vacant homes will instead be matched directly with homeless individuals who have been living in emergency accommodation during the pandemic.
The council has so far identified 370 households that would benefit from this system, however more cases are expected to arise due to domestic abuse, people leaving prison and evictions from private tenancies when the current eviction ban ends.
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A task group has been established to oversee the matching of vacant properties with households and to ensure adequate support is available.
The tenants who move into the vacant properties will be provided with furniture packages and homemaker packages including crockery, cutlery and utensils.
Local homelessness services, such as The Whitechapel Centre, Riverside Housing Association and Creative Support, will provide help and advice to the tenants when they move in.
The scheme will be funded through redirecting existing council resources. Liverpool Council also plans to utilise funding from the £105m pot announced by the government last week to fund move-on accommodation.
Paul Brant, cabinet member for adult health and social care at Liverpool Council, said: “For too long the presence of rough sleepers on the streets has been a scar on the conscience of our nation.
“Liverpool Council is determined to stop a slide back to the pre-COVID-19 position by default. Working with housing charities and local social housing providers, this scheme provides a piece of the jigsaw of measures which are being put in place.
“Resolving rough sleeping is a huge complex issue. I’m proud that Liverpool City Council is leading the way on this issue.”
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “It is brilliant to hear that Liverpool City Council, housing associations and charities are working together to ensure that those who have been sheltered in hotels and temporary accommodation during the outbreak have somewhere safe and settled to live once the hotel contracts come to an end.
“If there is one silver lining from the pandemic it is that, with the right support, people who were sleeping rough may never have to return to the streets again.
“The outbreak has brought the value of home into sharp relief – everyone should have somewhere safe and settled to call home. This combined effort will not only help to end the homelessness of hundreds across the city, but provides clear evidence that homelessness can be ended for good when the political will is there.”
