Sam Ashton
Principal Policy and Project Officer | London Councils
020 0000 0000
Sam.Ashton@example.co.uk
Sam's interview
Sam discusses the barriers to increasing the temporary accommodation stock and how housing associations or councils can ensure a strategic approach to long-term, sustained solutions. Watch his interview or read the transcript below to find out more.
What are the most significant barriers to increasing the temporary accommodation stock?
The most significant barriers to increasing the stock of temporary accommodation in London are wide ranging and interconnected. The current crisis in temporary accommodation came about as a reduction in the availability of private rented sector accommodation in London; and that needs to be addressed by incentivising private landlords to be able to provide their properties for use as temporary accommodation. But beyond that, local authorities need to be able to acquire and build their own wholly owned temporary accommodation stock which requires funding. Local authorities, particularly London boroughs, are facing significant financial challenges and we're calling on the Government to step in to support local authorities to acquire their own temporary accommodation stock which will provide better value for money and a better experience for homeless households in the long run.
How can housing associations or councils ensure a strategic approach to long-term, sustained solutions?
London Local Government thinks that we need to take a strategic long-term approach to solving the temporary accommodation crisis in the capital and the rest of the country and are committed to working with the Government on developing their cross-departmental homelessness strategy to do so, but while a long-term vision is necessary there is also a current crisis in temporary accommodation which requires urgent action to address in the here and now.
So the way forward is about combining the immediate steps that are necessary while looking to the future in order to address this. In London, we've launched the London Ending Homelessness Accelerator which is a joint project between London Councils and the Greater London Authority that is aiming to take a city-wide whole systems approach to homelessness in London that does just that, providing the necessary resources and action to address the current crisis but also planning to an ambitious long-term future of ending homelessness in order to meet this the scope and scale of this ambition we need a number of interventions from Government including the necessary resources powers and funding for local authorities to take ambitious action to end homelessness.
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