The government has been urged to immediately intervene to prevent the “collapse of support for society’s most vulnerable people”, following an emergency summit attended by 158 local authorities.

Hosted yesterday by Eastbourne Borough Council and the District Councils’ Network, the summit was convened to address the social and financial crisis created by the demand for temporary accommodation.

Councillor Stephen Holt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said: “Today we heard from councils and social housing experts, and we are all arriving at the same conclusion.

“The collapse of support for society’s most vulnerable people is now a reality for many, unless the government urgently intervenes.

“This summit be a catalyst for change and that change cannot wait.

“We have set out a way forward in an open letter to government that all councils attending the summit are invited to sign and I’m delighted that so many already have.

“I must also thank all the council leaders and officers for joining us today. To have 158 councils join us at such short notice, clearly reflects the gravity of the situation that so many are dealing with.”

Councillor Holt highlighted that the cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities reached £1.7 billion last year and is increasing rapidly.

In Eastbourne, the council had to find an additional £2.6 million in temporary accommodation costs in 2022/23 and that figure is expected to rise to £3.6 million in 2023/24.

A letter to the government, that all the councils that attended the summit will be invited to sign, includes six main requests:

• Raise Local Housing Allowance rates to a level that will cover at least 30% of local market rent and commit to annual uprating.
• Provide £100m additional funding for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2023-24 and an additional £200m in 2024-25.
• Provide a £150m top-up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2024-25.
• Review the cap for housing benefit subsidy rate for local authority homelessness placements.
• Develop policy to stimulate retention and supply in the privately rented sector.
• Give councils the long-term funding, flexibility and certainty needed to increase the supply of social housing.

Councillor Hannah Dalton, the District Councils’ Network housing spokesperson, said: “The fact that 158 councils attended today’s summit demonstrates that we are in an emergency situation – the spiralling cost of temporary accommodation is overwhelming many councils.

“Unless the government intervenes urgently, we’ll no longer be able to afford our current support to the most vulnerable people in society and will have no option but to scale back this essential safety net.

“We urge the chancellor to listen to the immense, cross-party strength of feeling in local government – unless money is found our services will be decimated, suffering will increase as more people fall into homelessness and other parts of the public sector will be left to pick up the pieces at huge cost.”

Meanwhile, London Councils is reiterating calls for the government to work with local authorities to reverse the number of households relying on temporary accommodation.

The number of households entitled to homelessness support from a London borough increased 15.2% between April 2022 and April 2023. London Councils is urging the government to take the following steps:

Raise Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which eligible households receive as part of their housing benefit or universal credit if they have a private landlord, has been frozen since 2020 despite private rents increasing since then. Boroughs believe LHA should be increased to cover at least 30% of local market rents – a policy the government adopted successfully at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Support councils to buy accommodation sold by private landlords. 40% of all homes listed for sale in London in 2022 were previously let by a private landlord. The government should build on initiatives such as the Local Authority Housing Fund by providing increased capital investment for housing acquisitions, particularly to acquire homes being sold by private landlords as they exit the market.

Boost Homelessness Prevention Grant funding. Local authorities play a vital role in supporting struggling households to avoid homelessness. Councils require an immediate emergency funding increase to ensure local services have the resources needed in the face of rising levels of demand for support.

Increase Discretionary Housing Payments. These payments are used by councils to help residents in financial crisis meet their housing costs. They are an essential homelessness prevention tool, but government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2023-24 has been frozen at 2022-23 levels, despite significantly increasing homelessness pressures.

Bring forward a cross-departmental strategy to reduce homelessness. Tackling homelessness must become a major priority at a national level with government departments working together – in addition to key partners such as local authorities – as effectively as possible.

To help find solutions to the temporary accommodation crisis, HQN has put together an event to explore ways that local authorities, housing associations and the NHS are working in partnership to address the situation in different parts of the country.

To find out more and book your place, click here.