Council providing safety net for Bedford's homeless because of “failing” government policy says senior councillor

Bedford Borough Council is providing a safety net for the homeless because of a “failing” government policy, a senior councillor has said.

A report to the Budget and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee last week (December 8) said temporary accommodation is the primary reason for an overspend in corporate services.

It added that there is forecast to be an overspend of £1.845 million, an increase of £0.885 million since June.

Lee Phanco, chief officer for assessment, application and business support, said the overspend is principally around temporary accommodation when the council has a statutory duty to provide it.

“This’ll be people that are homeless and qualify for at least the first 56 days of homelessness relief,” he said.

“Or have a priority need in which case we effectively have to accommodate them until we can find settled accommodation for them.

“Unfortunately, one of the key problems at the moment is the supply side of things.

“We are seeing high levels of people approaching us that become homeless, but it’s very difficult to find suitable and affordable accommodation for them.

“The main options are social housing – there’s a limited number of available social housing

“And privately rented, [which] is very challenging at the moment,” he said.

“The local housing allowance rate that somebody on Universal Credit would qualify for is far below the typical rent, particularly for one-bedroom properties.

“People under 35 only receive a shared room rate, which effectively means you’re looking for a room in a HMO [house in multiple occupation] , so that is very challenging.

“The change over the last year has been that we see far more families now, so it’s probably about 50 per cent families and 50 per cent single people.

“And the difficulty with actually being able to place people from temporary accommodation to something that is suitable,” he said.

The council’s portfolio holder for finance, councillor Michael Headley (LibDems, Putnoe) told the committee that other councils have reported problems caused by the financial support offered to people.

“The local housing allowance paid to benefit claimants to help them find private accommodation has been frozen since 2020 while inflation has soared to ten per cent and rents have increased,” he said.

“One of the real issues that we’re obviously having to do as a council is be a safety net because of that failing policy.

“Essentially that there isn’t any accommodation that people can afford and we’re having to provide that safety net for people,” he said.

“We’ve actually provided a very good service to people who haven’t got anywhere to live, people who are homeless, and rough sleeping.

“And we have been able to help and support them through the time of Covid, and through winters.

“We have a moral duty to look after people in this borough who are in very difficult circumstances,” he said.

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