Council secures £325,000 to help prevent homelessness

The authority has been given £325,000 worth of additional funding afterkey Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government workers visited Peterborough earlier this month and were impressed with its progress on reducing the rates of homelessness overall and on increasing temporary accommodation in the city.

Sarah Ferguson, assistant director for housing, communities and youth at Peterborough City Council, said: “This extra funding will help us to continue to reduce the number of homeless households in Peterborough, working closely with our partners.

“Recommendations from the Ministry included investing more in the ‘solid foundations’ that the council has set up, including more partnership working and giving extra resource to existing teams.”

Claire Higgins, chief executive of Cross Keys Homes, said: “This funding is really great news for the people of Peterborough and will enable all partners involved in reducing homelessness to do so much more.

“It is fantastic that the hard work of the council, Cross Keys Homes and other partners in reducing the number of homeless people has been recognised, and really shows the power of what we can achieve when we work together collaboratively. We are looking forward to continuing to work together with Peterborough City Council and transform even more lives.”

In particular, the Ministry said it was impressed with how quickly the council reacted to rising homeless figures last summer and set about achieving the following, in collaboration with Cross Keys Homes:

- Zero households staying in Travelodge accommodation out of the area since December, after it peaked at 63 in August 2018.

- Reductions in the use of B&B accommodation for families

- Good use of existing temporary accommodation

- Creating additional temporary accommodation by buying homes across the city, working with private landlords and building with Medesham Homes

The funding will be used to prevent other households from becoming homeless. Plans are now being drawn up by the city council to determine how to achieve the most with the money.