Plans to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in York by housing those affected sooner have been approved, with the council’s housing spokesperson saying action is needed to stop numbers rising.
The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, which takes a ‘Housing First’ approach tried in places including Greater Manchester and Finland, was approved by York Council’s Executive on Thursday, December 12.
Labour housing lead Cllr Michael Pavlovic said it marked a departure from methods used to try and tackle homelessness for the last three decades which had not worked.
But Liberal Democrat deputy leader Cllr Paula Widdowson said there were already people on waiting lists for housing and acquiring properties for the strategy would further strain council resources.
The go-ahead for the strategy comes as a council report stated the lack of affordable housing was one of the main drivers of homelessness in York.
Rents in York are among the highest in the north of England and the ongoing cost of living crisis has made the issue worse.
Government figures showed 55 people slept rough in York in September, up four per cent in a year, with 20 of them having done so long-term.
A total of 736 households were found to need homelessness prevention or relief support from the council in 2023-4, compared to 780 the year before.
There were 1,477 people on waiting lists for council houses in York as of September, according to the local authority’s figures.
The council’s report stated other leading causes of homelessness were family or friends not being willing to accommodate people, with domestic abuse the main reason for those with children.
‘Housing First’
The ‘Housing First’ approach at the heart of the strategy aims to get people into permanent homes in the short-term rather than temporary accommodation like hostels.
Providing people with homes and tailored support aims to stop people becoming stuck relying on homelessness services and to free up resources to deal with more serious homelessness cases.
The council is aiming to increase its stock of single-bed homes to 250 in the next five years as part of the approach.
Prof Nicholas Pleace, a University of York-based researcher specialising in the issue, said Finland’s use of Housing First had effectively ended homelessness as a long-term social problem there.
He added the approach was also being tried in Greater Manchester where the results had also been promising.
But Cllr Widdowson said her group were concerned about potential flaws and unintended consequences arising from the approach.
The opposition councillor said: “We welcome the hard work on this, but we’re concerned about the level of resources going into acquring single-bed flats and supporing the integration of people into neighbourhoods.
“We want assurances that existing residents will be supported.
“At the same time there’s many people on the council house waiting list who would be interested in living in these one-bed apartments.
“We’re concerned that the strategy could mean that people see becoming homeless as the only viable way of getting a one-bed flat on a social rent.”
Housing executive member Cllr Pavlovic said integrating people threatened with homeless into the communities where they would be settled was at the heart of the strategy.
The executive member said: “Homeless people aren’t a distinct entity, many of them are also on council house waiting lists.
“They’d human beings who deserve our support in the same way that anyone on the waiting list does, we’re taking them out of hostels and helping them to develop independent, safe and healthy lives.
“We’re still seeing rough sleepers on our streets every day and the numbers are going up, not just in York but nationally.
“I’ve been contacted by parents who say their child has failed in hostels time and again and is back on the street, this will help people like that.”