Hackney temporary housing deaths cause concern

Hackney councillors were told "huge amounts" of people are in inappropriate accommodation

Four people have died in temporary housing in an east London council area over the past year.

Jennifer Wynter, a Hackney Council officer, admitted there were "huge amounts of people that we cannot provide appropriate accommodation for".

The issue was raised at a council meeting last week where councillors were told there were 579 individuals living in temporary accommodation (TA) in Hackney.

Deputy mayor Guy Nicholson said the council's ambition was to "produce a supported accommodation (SA) strategy for Hackney" by the autumn.

People living in TA are often homeless, with complex mental and physical health needs, and sometimes drug and alcohol dependency.

Last June, 75% of those living in were assessed as in need of SA.

In SA, care workers provide assistance to residents tailored to their individual needs, as opposed to TA, which Wynter described as "sadly, a one-size-fits-all approach".

"We don’t have provision for anybody in TA, regardless of their protected characteristics," she explained.

Ms Wynter told the meeting she was "very concerned" about this figure.

She added: "We know that TA is not a suitable environment for them and will not help them recover."

When asked about the future development of SA premises, Ms Wynter informed council they were "not looking at anything being available until 2028/29… which doesn’t stop people dying in TA when they’d be better off in supported accommodation".

"What we have is an extremely small pathway primarily delivered by one support provider and only three sites," continued Ms Wynter.

"The council and key partners must act now to address the crisis in supported accommodation so that people get the help that they need and are treated with dignity," said Green Party assembly member Zoe Garbett.

"This has been prioritised in other boroughs and not in Hackney, there is clearly an issue and action must be taken."

Ms Wynter explained during the meeting that previously, supported accommodation had been focused on non-homeless individuals with multiple complex needs such as the elderly, as opposed to homeless people.

Mr Nicholson said: "To put it quite explicitly… supported accommodation has not been well understood, nor has it been a concept that’s been applied through Hackney’s housing strategy work to date."

He said that the council’s previous strategic housing needs assessment did not look into SA but explained that the work was now being done in "quite a granular fashion" with the aim of producing a SA strategy by the autumn.