The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to scrap a new ringfence within the homelessness prevention grant.
Ministers have increased the grant allocation to £633m for 2025-26 but have stipulated that 49% must be spent on homelessness prevention and relief activities.
According to the LGA, this leaves councils with £76m less than last year to spend on temporary accommodation, which will force many to cover the gap from reserves.??
The call comes as new figures show there were 126,040 households in temporary accommodation in England last September – a 16% increase on the year before.
LGA housing spokesperson Adam Hug said: ‘It is right that the Government has increased its focus on prevention and relief of homelessness, however this sudden shift in funding allocation without a suitable transition period risks exacerbating the financial pressure councils are under at a time when temporary accommodation costs continue to rise dramatically.’
The LGA has also called on the Government to uprate the temporary accommodation subsidy to 90% of the prevailing local housing allowance rate.
