Today (Thursday 20th March), the Housing Policy Committee approved a public consultation being held to seek people’s views on what should be included in this draft strategy. This will be launched in due course.
The Council has never had such a strategy and policy in place, and doing so will allow officers to plan better for when residents need placing in temporary accommodation, rather than working reactively as and when the need arises.
Among the priorities for the draft strategy are:
- Ensuring robust triaging of assessments and casework and realign service structures and resources to increase the focus on prevention
- Ending the use Of B&Bs, Hotels and Nightly Paid Accommodation
- Rebalancing the draft Allocations Policy – also currently undergoing consultation - to increase the number of lets to households currently in temporary accommodation and find them a suitable alternative
- Building on our strong partnerships across all sectors with expertise in supporting those at risk of homelessness and improve outcomes
When the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-2028 was approved, a commitment was made to create a strategy such as this to prevent homelessness, end the use of costly bed and breakfast accommodation (B&Bs) and provide more suitable alternatives.
The number of households in temporary accommodation has unfortunately increased in the last two years, meaning more residents and families are being placed in those costly B&Bs, which can be unsuitable for their needs. This makes this strategy and policy even more necessary.
When need arises, the draft strategy and policy will ensure suitable, affordable, and cost-effective temporary accommodation is available. Alongside this, we will ensure the right support is available to prepare people for independent living.
This is not an issue that solely affects Sheffield. The rise in use of temporary accommodation is a national issue and the Government has said this will be a priority in their new Homelessness Strategy due to be published this year.
This consultation is part of significant work analysing primary and secondary data sources to understand the need for temporary accommodation in Sheffield to inform the development of our own draft strategy and policy in readiness for that announcement.
This remains one of the biggest areas of spend for the Housing Service, and addressing the use of B&Bs will help the service spend funds on other areas where demand is high.
We currently use 442 dispersed council properties for temporary accommodation. Approximately 200 more will be required, including 70 for families and 130 for single occupants. It is estimated this approach will reduce the pressure on the Council General Fund by approximately £2.9m for families and £2.2m for single households by March 2027.
Enough additional properties will be available because, as part of the Council's Housing Transformation Programme, the void property numbers is being improved by reducing turnaround time through partnerships with home improvement organisations such as Fortem.
“The Council is dedicated to improving the Housing Service’s efficiency and fairness when it comes to the allocation of accommodation – temporary or otherwise.
“It is no secret there are big pressures on housing services nationwide, and the cost this puts on Council budgets. Reducing this cost in Sheffield will mean more funding for other areas of our Housing Service as we continue to increase performance across the board.
“We want everyone to have their say in this consultation, as your views and priorities will help us to get this strategy and policy right for everyone.”
Cllr Douglas Johnson, Chair of the Housing Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council
It is proposed the consultation will take place at the end of this month (March) and into April 2025. Updates on this will be made via our Have Your Say Sheffield website. Sign up to the service to receive notifications when consultations go live.
The final draft of the strategy and policy will be brought back to the Housing Policy Committee in the summer for approval.
To see the report brought to today’s Housing Policy Committee, head to the Council’s website.
