Single young homeless people in Liverpool to be offered housing

Twenty homes for single homeless young people are to be created in Liverpool with over £2m in government funding.

The scheme, to be delivered by YMCA Together, comes as Liverpool City Council has warned of an "unprecedented rise in homelessness".

A grant of £2.6m has been given to help tackle the issue in the city.

Minister for housing and homelessness Felicity Buchan said the funding was to help support people with "entrenched and difficult issues".

The government said the new scheme would enable young people to move on to more independent living, giving them the tools to prevent a repeating cycle of homelessness.

'Costs spiralled'

The issue of homelessness in the city had been raised by Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson.

Calling on the government for urgent help, he said the cost of providing accommodation had spiralled from £250,000 to more than £19m in three years.

Ms Buchan said the funding included £500,000 to be given to Liverpool City Council to carry out homelessness prevention work.

She said this would fund "specialist support for those who have mental health issues or substance misuse problems".

'Challenging time in their lives'

Ms Buchan added: "Rough sleeping comes about because of a myriad of different reasons, often very complex reasons and we cannot be siloed in our approach.

"We've got to work together across agencies."

Jon Metcalf, deputy chief executive of the City of Liverpool YMCA, said they were "delighted" with the funding, which would enable them to "create much needed homes for younger people experiencing homelessness".

He added: "Together with support that we will be able to provide, we aim to help people develop their social capital so that they're able to navigate safely through a challenging time in their lives."

The grant is part of a wider funding package to provide over 800 homes for rough sleepers and to help prevent families across the country from becoming homeless.

Ms Buchan said the funding would take the total received by the City of Liverpool since 2020 to over £24m.