The Government has urged 16 councils to reduce the number of families living in bed and breakfast accommodation, offering them a share of £2m to implement best practice.
New figures show that of the 760 families placed in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks, nearly 80% came from 16 councils.
Housing minister, Mark Prisk, has announced the funding for them to adopt the ‘Gold Standard’ approach to homelessness and learn from neighbouring areas that have managed to tackle this problem.
Mr Prisk said: ‘There’s a huge variation in how councils help the homeless, especially when it comes to finding them a stable home.
‘Some councils are already doing great work but it’s clear we need to spread this best practice across all councils. By doing so and offering financial support we will ensure that families have a much better chance of getting a stable home for the long term.’
The 16 councils invited to bid are:
o Barking and Dagenham;
o Birmingham;
o Brent;
o Crawley;
o Croydon;
o Dacorum;
o Hammersmith and Fulham;
o Harrow;
o Hillingdon;
o Hounslow;
o Milton Keynes;
o Redbridge;
o Reigate and Banstead;
o Tower Hamlets;
o Wandsworth; and
o Westminster
