Demand for temporary accommodation in Peterborough resulted in £1.5m council budget deficit
The demand for temporary accommodation in Peterborough has put a strain on the council’s finances – but work to fix this has already made a positive impact.
A Peterborough City Council scrutiny committee will meet on November 4 to review an annual monitoring report of the authority’s Housing Strategy, a document which identifies the key housing issues and challenges facing the city from 2024 to 2029.
Within the annual report, it states that the high demand for assistance to prevent and alleviate homelessness in Peterborough has remained an “ongoing challenge” since the adoption of the strategy last year.
From April to December 2024, the council assessed 1,263 households as either being homeless or threatened with homelessness within the statutory 56-day assessment period.
Of these, 55.34% were owed a prevention duty meaning they were at risk of homelessness, with 44.65% being assessed as actually homeless.
“The resulting demand for temporary accommodation from homeless households, particularly for single people under the age of 35, resulted in a temporary accommodation budget deficit of £1.5m for the council in 2024-25,” the report states.
In order to combat these challenges, the city council has introduced a new operating model for housing and homelessness, supported by a new service structure which is focused on people and supporting cultural change.
It aims to prevent homelessness through encouraging early engagement with the service and providing a comprehensive range of advice and guidance.
The report adds: “This new approach aims to reduce demand on the statutory services, and where people do engage with the service, to shift towards an increased profile being supported under a prevention duty rather than a relief duty where the household requires placement in temporary accommodation.”
Pathways have also been set up to tackle barriers people face when looking for accommodation, including substance misuse and mental health.
The council has developed an Integrated Housing Transformation Programme to ensure the new service can deliver its aims, and it is reportedly already making an impact.
As of June 2, 2025, the number of households in temporary accommodation was down to 304 from 377 at the beginning of the year, with just 39 accommodated in B&Bs compared to 121 in December 2024.
The authority is also exceeding its target to supply 250 affordable homes a year for five years.
A total of 926 new affordable homes have been delivered during the first two years of the five-year target period, which has helped with the availability of permanent suitable housing solutions for those in need.