Crawley Council could declare housing emergency

The council said factors driving its accommodation costs included the high cost of home ownership

A housing emergency could be declared in Crawley, West Sussex, due to unprecedented accommodation demands facing the town, its council has said.

The prospect will be debated at a full council meeting on Wednesday evening.

Crawley Borough Council leader Michael Jones said: "We do not have the resources to solve the problem alone."

The government said Crawley would get £2m between 2023 and 2025 through its Homelessness Prevention Grant.

The local authority has said its annual costs for temporary accommodation have risen twelve-fold in the past five years to £5.7m.

Demand outstripping supply

As of 6 February, the council said 2,796 applications had been made for 243 available housing units in eight months - more than 11 applicants per property.

It said those in real housing need were having to be placed in accommodation that might not meet their needs or even be in the borough.

"This is not a temporary situation - the prospects are for current trends to continue or worsen," the authority warned.

By declaring an emergency, the council said it would be seeking to draw attention to the situation, to explain it to residents, and to seek greater government support.

The council said the situation had arisen despite its best efforts

It said factors that had driven this included:

• the unaffordable cost of home ownership for many

• a shrinking and expensive rental sector

• a shortage of social housing to meet demand

• four asylum seeker hotels in the town

The council said the situation had arisen despite its best efforts and it had "one of the best records in the country for developing social housing".

Earlier this year, a group of councillors at a Westminster summit warned the rising cost of homelessness could lead to effective bankruptcy and "the end of local government".

Mr Jones said: "These driving forces are not in our control and... we do not have the resources to solve the problem alone.

"We urgently need help to deal with these pressures and call on the government to increase the housing benefit subsidy rate, which is currently frozen at 2011 levels."

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: "We are spending £2bn over three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

"This includes over £1bn for the Homelessness Prevention Grant, including £2m for Crawley between 2023-2025.

"We recognise councils are facing challenges and that is why we recently announced an additional £600m support package for councils across England."

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