Prime Minister and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announce £40 million homelessness prevention programme.




£20 million for local authorities to pilot new initiatives to tackle homelessness in their area
£10 million for targeted support for those at imminent risk of sleeping rough or those new to the streets
£10 million in Social Impact Bonds to help long-term rough sleepers with the most complex needs

A new £40 million programme to provide an innovative approach to tackling homelessness, with prevention at its heart, has been announced by Prime Minister Theresa May and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.

The Prime Minister has announced a fresh government approach to tackling homelessness by focusing on the underlying issues which can lead to somebody losing their home.

This includes a new £10 million rough sleeping prevention fund to help individuals who might be struggling to get by from ending up on the street. It will also provide rapid and targeted interventions for new rough sleepers, such as helping them to access employment and education opportunities.

The Prime Minister and the Communities Secretary have also announced details of £20 million for local authorities to trial new initiatives, responding to the specific needs in their communities and focusing on prevention at an earlier stage. These areas will work with a wider group of at risk people to help families and individuals before they reach crisis point – including through new resident advice services and outreach work with landlords and private sector tenants.

A further £10 million Social Impact Bond programme has also been launched to help long-term rough sleepers who may be bouncing chaotically through the housing system – to address underlying issues such as poor mental health or substance abuse to help stop them from living on, and returning to, the streets.

This focus on prevention follows the Prime Minister’s commitment to fight the burning injustices in our society so that every single person - regardless of their background or circumstances - is given the chance to be all they want to be.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

I want to build a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few, based on the values of fairness and opportunity.

That means facing up to the great social injustices in our society and tackling the complex and often stubborn underlying causes which can lead to a person losing their home.

We know there is no single cause of homelessness but I am determined to do more to prevent it happening by supporting those facing challenging issues like domestic abuse, addiction, mental health issues or redundancy, whilst also being prepared to offer a safety net to catch those who might simply be struggling to get by.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said:

One person without a home is one too many, which is why we are launching this new £40 million programme to tackle homelessness and prevent it happening in the first place.

It will fund different projects around the country, preventing people from losing their home in the first place and helping to ensure that rough sleepers have somewhere safe to stay.

The strategy unveiled today builds on the government’s commitment to preventing homelessness, which includes:

increasing central funding to tackle homelessness over the next 4 years to £139 million
protecting homelessness prevention funding for local authorities at £315 million by 2019 to 2020.
providing £100 million for at least 2,000 low cost accommodation places, for rough sleepers leaving hostel accommodation and domestic abuse victims and their families moving on from refuges