Bedford council plans to acquire 300 residential units to help tackle homelessness

Bedford Borough Council has plans to acquire 300 residential units to meet the predicted demand for temporary accommodation, a senior councillor has said.

The portfolio holder for community safety, regulatory services and housing, councillor Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant told the council’s Executive on Wednesday (January 24) that temporary accommodation has been her “main focus” since taking on the role.

“There’s been an increase in temporary accommodation numbers over the last two and a half years,” councillor Martin-Moran-Bryant (Conservative, Great Barford) told the Executive.

“Just to go over those numbers for you, there were 130 approaches for homelessness advice and assistance per month in 2018 and 230 in 2023.

“Temporary accommodation, I’m pleased to say, is now a corporate priority for the whole council.

“There is significant work underway to transform the service for residents.

“There’s been significant investment in staffing, the recruitment [process] is going very well and I’m delighted that we will have new officers joining us soon.

“We have the bids in to purchase property, including family housing, modular, and property for disabled or elderly,” she said.

The Executive heard that the council is “really pushing” to acquire its target of 300 dwellings to alleviate the long-term pressure on temporary accommodation budgets.

The report presented to them said the gross cost of hotel accommodation is around £30,000 per year per room, and the nightly rate for self-contained accommodation is around £20,000 per year.

It added that there are also concerns over the quality of the accommodation that is available through nightly lets and the wider economic impact of the block booking of hotels on the local businesses.

“[Buying additional units] will have a huge implication and it will also ensure that we’re able to better manage placements and properties,” councillor Martin-Moran-Bryant said.

“We all recognise the stress of being in temporary accommodation, it’s huge and it isn’t a long term solution.

“And something I heard recently from within the service was this key message – ‘we’re not about re-booking, we’re about rehousing’.”