London mayor announces additional funding to extend support for rough sleepers in the new year

From July to September, the number of people sleeping rough for the first time increased by 12%, and in the past year, the number of children in temporary accommodation grew by 20,000.

The funding will allow homelessness charity Crisis to extend its temporary-accommodation scheme, which will provide shelter for 570 people, to the end of January.

St Mungo’s, another charity, will be able to carry out additional assessments and specialised case work.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “This year, we’ve seen unprecedented demand for our services. Providing our guests with additional time to access tailored support through our hotel provision is a dignified and proven approach that we know changes lives.”

Crisis’s annual Christmas campaign houses rough sleepers in hotels across the capital and creates centres which provide support and services for those in temporary accommodation.

James Lally, services director at St Mungo’s, described the additional funding as “vital” and said “safe, warm and decent accommodation is the foundation on which we all build, and rebuild, our lives”.

Last week, the government announced that councils across England would receive almost £1bn next year to “tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness”.

Over £600m of the package, which will be introduced in the spring, will be allocated to the Homelessness Prevention Grant.

The MHCLG said this represented “historic levels of investment” and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, described the announcement as a “turning point” in the battle to end homelessness.

Adam Hug, housing spokesperson at the Local Government Association, said: “The new funding announced will be a great help to councils as they seek to end homelessness, and will help to relieve some of the financial burden they are under.”