Government step in with £50 million to provide permanent places to live for rough sleepers in London

Rough sleepers across London to have access to new, safe, long-term homes, along with support, backed by more than £150 million.

First 3,300 of 6,000 planned new homes for rough sleepers to be delivered by March 2021.

Conservative Government investing more than £700 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year as part of manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping.

£47,578,630 will be received by London.

Shaun Bailey, Conservative candidate for Mayor of London has welcomed the news that the Government is providing funding for London for new, long-term homes for rough sleepers and other vulnerable people.

In total, projects across England will receive more than £150 million to deliver more than 3,300 such secure homes by the end of March 2021, providing long term accommodation to vulnerable people to keep them safe from coronavirus and rebuild their lives.

London will receive£47,578,630 for local schemes that provide secure ‘move on’ style accommodation for people at risk of sleeping on the streets and is an important step towards achieving the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024, alongside investment in new homes for social rent.

This is part of the Government’s investment of £433 million to deliver 6,000 new homes for rough sleepers by the end of this Parliament and builds on the widely praised ‘Everyone In’ campaign launched at the start of the pandemic which has helped support over 29,000 vulnerable people – enabling councils to keep rough sleepers safe this winter.

In total, 276 schemes have been approved across England, which will deliver 904 new homes for rough sleepers in London and 2,430 elsewhere across the country. This sits alongside the £91.5 million in grant funding given to councils to support vulnerable people and provide short term accommodation over the coming months, and a £10 million Cold Weather Fund to support winter shelters and ensure they are Covid-secure.

Commenting, Shaun Bailey, Conservative Candidate for London Mayor said:

“Homelessness is a huge problem across London. So I’m pleased that throughout the pandemic, the government has shown they’re willing to take whatever action is needed to keep the most vulnerable in our community safe.

I wish the same could be said for Sadiq Khan. But the truth is that he’s failed Londoners on housing. Despite getting £4.82 billion from the government to build 116,000 new homes, he’s only delivered 16,000. So it’s no surprise that homelessness had risen by 21% before lockdown started.

Sadiq Khan has three jobs — to make our city safer, fairer and more affordable. And he’s failed at all three.”

Commenting, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said:

“Our Everyone In plan is widely considered the most effective action taken by any country in the world to protect those sleeping rough from the pandemic. And that work hasn’t stopped – 29,000 rough sleepers and other vulnerable people have been supported into safe accommodation since the start of COVID-19.

“The next step in our mission is to ensure they have a more settled home. Which is why we are providing over £150 million, as part of the biggest ever investment in homes for the homeless, to deliver over 3,000 new long-term homes across England, giving them the stability and security they need to start to rebuild their lives.”