High homeless demand leads to £895k overspend

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has already overspent on temporary accommodation by £587,412 and expects this to rise

A council is expected to overspend on homeless accommodation by nearly £900,000 due to a "consistently high" demand for help.

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council said the number of people seeking help in the first quarter of this financial year increased by 19% on the same period last year.

The authority has already overspent by £587,412 in the first six months of the year and predicts this will rise to £895,000 by March 2026.

Councillor Clive Woodbridge, chairman of the community and wellbeing committee, said the challenges the council faces are found nationwide, "largely due to lack of affordable, permanent housing and the rising cost of living".

He added: "We also suffer from local factors such as lack of affordable private rented accommodation, lack of our own housing stock and a shortage of social housing in the borough."

The council's budget for 2025/26 is based on 70 families in nightly paid accommodation, but as of 24 October, it was supporting 114.

Mr Woodbridge said the council was focusing on homeless prevention, including through its private sector leasing and rent deposit schemes.

Charities, including the YMCA East Surrey, are also helping to reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation.

'Struggled to pay rent'

One woman from Redhill, who asked to remain anonymous, said she contacted the YMCA because she was "at a difficult stage and was at risk of becoming homeless".

"I had a stroke at a young age and have non-visible disabilities and complex post-traumatic stress disorder," she said.

"During Covid, I suffered a neurological relapse and became extremely ill, which eventually impacted my working life and I lost my job.

"I struggled to pay my rent and was so incapacitated, I lived with a dear friend who cooked for me and supported me for about two and a half years, but then had to move away.

"As I feel I live in a good community with an excellent GP, I could not contemplate moving out of the area."

The woman contacted the YMCA which helped her to organise the necessary paperwork and guide her to permanent accommodation.

"Before that, the prospect of emergency housing was staring me in the face," she said.

Elsewhere in the county, Woking Borough Council said it expected to overspend on temporary accommodation by £350,000 and Waverley Borough Council estimates and overspend of £165,000.