A £280,000 investment plan to help prevent cases of homelessness in Hambleton over the next four years has been given the green light.
Member of the District Council’s Cabinet last week (July 5) also agreed to allocate £48,000 to employ a dedicated part time private sector worker until 2020.
The authority is managing the number of people facing homelessness through focused prevention measures which has led to the number of temporary accommodation units needed falling from 19 to 11 over the last two years.
Private sector housing has also been an important tool – and the part time officer works solely in this field to strengthen links with landlords and find places for those in need. In the last year she has helped find accommodation for 55 people.
Councillors were told that in order to address homelessness issues and deliver the authority’s priority to prevent it occurring, an investment plan is needed. They agreed to allocate £69,980 a year for the next four years – and add a further £48,000 from its ‘one off fund’ to secure the private sector worker post until 2020.
“Our homelessness prevention work – be that through guidance, debt advice, the choice based lettings scheme of housing allocations, or support for the no second night out campaign – is seeing the number of homeless applications drop,” said Cabinet Member, Councillor Brian Phillips.
“It is vital that we continue to fund this work – the prevention of homelessness is a key priority for this council.”
For more information about the Housing Options Service and the services provided, contact the team on 01609 779977 or email housing3@hambleton.gov.uk