Council to invest £612,000 to tackle homelessness

Councillor Richard O'Driscoll said a secure and decent home was a basic human need

A council has approved a £612,000 investment to help ease a "housing crisis".

Councillor Richard O'Driscoll, Labour portfolio holder for housing, asked West Suffolk Council to approve the new housing, homelessness reduction and rough sleeping strategy.

The money is to be used for feasibility studies to bring empty homes into use, for a homelessness prevention scheme over two years and to continue exploring options to increase the housing supply in the district.

The council agreed the move after reporting 2,500 people on its housing register, 1,000 of whom were in high or very high need.

'It's our duty'

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that the council's Conservative leader, Beccy Hopfeperger, said that although there were still some issues to iron out, the strategy was "important and essential".

She added that “the true test of the strategy will be in the outcomes it delivers for the residents of West Suffolk and it’s our duty to ensure these are delivered correctly.”

Tony Brown, Independent councillor for Haverhill, raised issues surrounding houses in multiple occupation (HMO), on which, he argued, the strategy was "quite weak".

He said while not all HMOs were badly run, the ones that were concerned him, and that “the impact on their neighbours, some who are vulnerable themselves is sometimes horrendous.”

Addressing this, O’Driscoll said the council had committed £177,000 during the February budget-setting period to target the private sector, but admitted more could be needed.

The proposals were approved with 44 votes in favour, five abstentions and no votes against.