Creating hostels may cut homeless bill - council

North Devon Council matched the money it received from the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund

Councillors in North Devon may consider creating hostels for homeless people, as its temporary accommodation bill rockets.

Currently, 67 households live in council-funded B&B accommodation and 19 in the local authority’s own temporary accommodation in North Devon.

At a committee meeting, councillors were told that an increase in people needing temporary homes and a rise in B&B fees from £60 to £70 a night had resulted in extra costs of £190,000 from July to September.

The cost of providing temporary housing from 2022 to 2024 now stands at more than £4m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

'Significantly improved'

While the number of people needing public housing remained high, the council’s decision to buy its own properties had significantly improved the situation, said deputy chief executive Jon Triggs.

“If we extend that further it will reduce the pressure on the budget,” he said.

He said extra costs this year had been offset by an additional homelessness grant but there was likely to be continuing demand on the budget unless there was further funding from the government.

Councillor Matthew Prowse said with interest rates at about 5% and the legal fees involved in buying property, it "might be a wiser option" to look at hostels that could house more people.

Mr Triggs said it might be a good idea to get bigger properties broken up into smaller units.

North Devon council has recently recruited a residential property officer to manage its housing portfolio.