Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP has today (Thursday 18 March) announced further details in government plans to help support thousands of people sleeping rough across England.

Details include:

• bidding has now opened for local councils to fund longer term accommodation in their area
• reannouncement of 6,000 longer term accommodation places by the end of the next parliamentary term
• specialist staff will be available as part of this support to offer help with areas such as mental health needs
   

In response, Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis, said “It’s great to see the government ​clearly stating that wrap-around care, like mental health support, ​is an important part of their plans to help people sleeping rough leave homelessness behind for good.

“​Today’s announcement of 6,000 places for longer-term accommodation by the end of this Parliament will ​offer relief for some people currently stuck sleeping rough or in expensive, temporary accommodation. But we must be clear - this number of places will only scratch the surface compared to the number of people we know are in need.  

“The government has made incredible progress, supporting thousands of people sleeping rough during this public health emergency. Now is the time to build upon this to ​secure a home for all. We urgently need a review of the current rough sleeping strategy to make sure it addresses the situation post-pandemic – and we need to see this strategy including a national roll out of Housing First ​and a commitment to deliver the genuinely affordable homes we desperately need built so that people can leave homelessness behind for good.”

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