Liverpool's homeless accommodation bill to hit £19m

Seven out of 1,000 people have presented as homeless in Liverpool

The cost of homeless accommodation in Liverpool is set to rise to more than £19m, a council report has said.

The city's council is expected to spend £19.4m - £3m more than the annual budget - in the next financial year on temporary accommodation (TAs) and bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) for the homeless.

In 2019, the amount spent on TAs was about £250,000.

The authority said the overspend was due to a spike in rental arrears evictions.

A report to the Sustainable, Safe and Thriving Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee stated that currently more than 900 people are in TAs, with an additional 528 in "expensive" B&Bs.

Since the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018, 57% of councils have reported an increase in the use of TAs.

Prevention plan

Analysis by the council revealed, in comparison with other core cities, Liverpool has a high number of households in B&Bs and a high number of families occupying B&B for more than six weeks, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Seven out of 1,000 people have presented as homeless in Liverpool, compared to two in 1,000 in the London Borough of Camden.

The report said: "This overspend is mostly due to an increase in demand because of people being evicted due to unpaid rental arrears."

In the last four years, spending on temporary housing has risen from £250,000 to potentially £26m next year if no action is taken.

As a result, a B&B reduction plan has been agreed by cabinet and senior management, which includes working with registered providers to increase property nominations.

The authority is also seeking to increase early intervention and prevention activities "to prevent housing crises occurring in the first place".

The document said empty council housing stock would be refurbished to provide additional accommodation.

Plans have also been put forward to utilise the private rented sector "to undertake a review of policy and practice in this area, to increase supply of urgently needed permanent accommodation".