The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is to fund the creation of 903 new longer-term homes for homeless Londoners, ready to be occupied by spring next year.
Sadiq is using a £93.4m grant from Government to provide accommodation and support for people currently living in hotels, hostels or other supported housing. Since the grant was announced in July, City Hall’s rough sleeping team have been inundated with bids from charities, boroughs and housing providers to deliver homes and to provide support.
38 projects across London have now been selected to receive funding, including:
- The London Borough of Enfield have been allocated £9.1m capital and revenue funding to deliver 73 homes and support for former rough sleepers across three different projects.
- A £233k investment to support Redbridge Council in partnership with the Salvation Army to deliver and support residents in eight new modular homes for former rough sleepers. The homes will make use of ‘meanwhile sites’ and have been gifted to the Salvation Army by developer Hills Consortium as part of their ‘Foundation 200’ pledge.
- A £5m contribution to Resonance’s new £15m social impact investment property fund, delivering 50 homes across London for rough sleepers. Resonance will work in partnership with leading social justice charity Nacro.
The projects will begin work as soon as possible, with the aim that over 900 people will be helped to move into homes completed by March 31 2021. Many are likely to be rough sleepers that City Hall and boroughs are safely accommodating in hotels to protect them from the risk of COVID19.
The Mayor has also prioritised the creation of long-term social rented homes, available at affordable rent levels. The 903 homes created by the new funding will complement the 2,700 homes for homeless people already provided in London via the Mayor’s Clearing House service.
Whilst these measures will help thousands of former rough sleepers, the Mayor is well aware that the pandemic has worsened London’s homelessness crisis. He is continuing to push ministers for greater levels of support and protection for London’s most vulnerable people to protect them from both the winter cold and the risk of coronavirus.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “A secure, long-term home should be a basic right for every Londoner, but a decade of austerity and the economic crisis created by the pandemic means far too many people have found themselves on the street or in temporary accommodation.
“My teams and their charity partners are working around the clock to help the most vulnerable people to work towards a life off the street – but this is only possible if there is high quality, affordable accommodation available at the end of their journey. The projects I’m supporting will create the homes our fellow Londoners deserve and ensure they have access to the support they need to rebuild their lives.
“There is still much more to do to tackle rough sleeping which will require greater support from the Government. This includes better protection for London’s private renters, increased funding to keep providing hotel accommodation for as long as it’s required, and immigration support for rough sleepers who are non-UK nationals or have no recourse to public funds.”
Enfield Council Leader, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, said: “Enfield Council has worked tirelessly to support homeless people and to secure suitable accommodation for them, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic .
“Despite significant pressure on our finances, we will continue our engagement, support and advice and work with our partners to reduce rough sleeping in Enfield.
“This will be through a combination of improvements to the private rental sector, the establishment the Council’s ethical lettings agency known as Enfield Let, and the provision of high-quality, affordable and safe accommodation with welcomed financial assistance from the Mayor of London. In addition, we will work to strengthen residents’ ability to remain housed through support and training.”
Redbridge Council Leader, Cllr Jas Athwal, said: “We welcome this funding from the Mayor of London’s Office. In Redbridge we’ve shown tremendous commitment, effort, and care in supporting as many rough sleepers as possible off the streets during the pandemic. I’m extremely proud that we’ve been able to give all local rough sleepers a roof over their heads and respite from the serious health risks they would otherwise be exposed to on the streets.
“We’re grateful that our calls for urgent funding have been heard on this occasion. At the same time, long-term support and funding from central government is absolutely vital if we’re to achieve our aspirations of tackling the root causes of homelessness and rough sleeping.”
Simon Chisholm, CIO of Resonance said: “This investment from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, allows Resonance to extend its long running homelessness property fund initiative in London to help reach the specific and urgent need arising from the pandemic – helping provide move-on accommodation for individuals who have been temporarily housed in hotels and other emergency accommodation, and where there is now a historic opportunity to help prevent a return to the streets by providing a better way forward.
“We are pleased to be working with Nacro as our charity partner on this initiative, who have significant experience of working with this tenant group and providing appropriate support to ensure successful tenancies and progression for individuals.
“Impact investment in this area means that properties can be made available for the long run to help this need, and attract other investors who want to back solutions to meet these issues.”
Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Nacro, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to help homeless Londoners move on with their lives.
“Having somewhere secure to live, somewhere you can feel safe, is the basis of a second chance. But its not just a roof over their heads we will be providing, through our dedicated support workers we will be helping people throughout their tenancy to build a better future.
“In these difficult times this funding is a vital lifeline for homeless people in the capital.”