Government confirms first allocations from £266m funding made available to continue supporting vulnerable people housed during the pandemic

Just over £90m has been allocated to more than 270 local authorities in England to fund short-term interim accommodation and support

The government has confirmed it has made the first funding allocations to local authorities in England from the £266 million made available to continue supporting vulnerable people housed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Announcing the allocations today - from funds made available to support its Next Steps Accommodation Programme - the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirms that -

• £91.5 million has been allocated to 274 councils in England to help vulnerable people housed during the pandemic with short-term interim accommodation and support needs;
• an additional £13.5 million will be used to enable local authorities to tackle new or emerging challenges; and
• bids have also been submitted for the remaining £161 million to be used to help secure 3,300 longer-term homes.

Welcoming the speed at which the funding has been released, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s Steve Douglas said today -

'It will be for both homes and support, and will build on the success of the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, which enabled us, and other homelessness charities and service providers, to help almost 15,000 people sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness to move into emergency accommodation during the pandemic, and to receive the support they needed. This undoubtedly saved lives.

We have seen what can be achieved when we work together. Going forward we want to work with government and partners on longer term solutions and hope that the homelessness review for a long term strategy will begin this autumn.’

For more information, see 274 councils set to receive housing support for vulnerable people from gov.uk