Seaside resort to get 20-bed homeless support unit

Torbay Council currently provides temporary accommodation for about 80 homeless people

A 20-bed homeless support unit is set to be built in a Devon seaside resort.

Torbay Council said a more "interventionist" approach was needed to address issues of homelessness on Devon's south coast.

Under the plans an unnamed "national provider" would convert an old care home in Torquay into a new unit with 20 beds and a support service on-site with Torbay Council taking out a five-year £1.25m contract to pay for the service.

The council said it needed to look at "underlying causes of homeless" in "a significant percentage" of people using temporary accommodation who had "additional needs".

Tailored support

The report prepared for the council's cabinet said the authority currently provided bed and breakfast accommodation for about 80 single adults where they had a legal duty under homelessness legislation.

About 20% of those people had ill health needs and/or mental health requirements and 17% had extra needs associated with older age, according to the report.

The service would provide 24-hour support for 20 individuals at a time together with "personalised tailored support to each occupant".

A contract for the service would cost the council £250,000 a year and it believed it would save money in the long-term through cutting temporary accommodation costs.

The proposals were unanimously approved at the Torbay Council cabinet meeting on Tuesday.