With levels of homelessness rising across Wales, Anna Cooley-Greene assesses the policy response.
‘Housing is the greatest public investment that we stopped.’
This statement caught my attention at the Homelessness Impact Forum in Manchester delivered by the Centre for Homelessness Impact. One could argue that it accurately reflects the changing attitudes across the UK to social housing; from the post-war building boom to the Right to Buy era of the Conservative Government which potentially altered public opinion towards social housing. Since devolution, funding has more than quadrupled in Wales, although the earlier periods of non-investment have created a long-term impact.
The statistics of rising homelessness
Homelessness and rough sleeping continue to increase, and this is having a particularly worrying impact on children. Welsh Government statistics for 2023-24 recorded that 13,539 households were experiencing homelessness; this is an increase of 8 per cent. Latest figures indicate that over 3,000 children in Wales live in temporary accommodation, which research has shown significantly impacts all life chances. This is the equivalent of six in every 1,000 children across Wales.
At the end of March 2024, there were 6,447 households placed in temporary accommodation – an 18 per cent increase on 2023 numbers. Cardiff reported the highest number of homeless households in temporary accommodation. Newport experienced the highest increase of homelessness at 50 per cent, recording 1,359 households; with 549 living in temporary accommodation costing £6.5 million, an increase of £1.4 million from 2023.
An estimated 173 people were sleeping rough throughout Wales in September 2024. The current economic climate continues to pressure local authorities’ housing and homelessness teams, to respond with limited resources and available homes to offer.
The Westminster Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has just released the Supported Housing Review, which was conducted by the Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research. The UK-wide review found that the current supply of supported housing is estimated to be 634,000 units in the UK, with 41,100 units in Wales (6 per cent).
The research uncovered the growth in unmet demand will require between 361,700 and 640,700 additional units, to include homelessness provision. This translates to an increase from the current 634,000 units to between 995,600 and 1.275 million units by 2040 to meet current and unmet demand. The need in Wales represents 6 per cent of this figure, requiring an additional 59,736 to 67,650 units.
This is HUGE and provides fitting context for the current discussions being held within all nations around how to tackle homelessness and the increased pressure across the sector. The report recognises the need for an aligned approach to fund the care and support provision, alongside the development of additional units of accommodation.
How can we drive change?
A consistent theme from the Homelessness Impact Forum was that we know the challenges, but what are we going to do about them? The forum showcased the best of our sector; its resilience, ambition, drive and creativity to find innovative solutions to move homelessness up the UK Government’s agenda, and to finally end it. There were some key asks:
- Investment in preventative services
- Need for place-based approaches
- Put housing first
- Need for cross-sector collaboration
- Funding for innovative programmes
- Reviewing the funding system to ensure a longer-term ring-fenced revenue stream
- The development of quickly accessible units
There is nothing groundbreaking here; it’s about finding pragmatic funding programmes to allow the specialists to get on with it. Arguably this approach works better in Wales, in a devolved structure where decisions can be at a localised level. The Welsh Government has been driving the ‘eradicating homelessness agenda’ for some time, recently announcing in the draft budget that the Housing Support Grant will increase by £21 million, helping people avoid the personal impact of homelessness. Although overall funding for Homelessness Prevention Support is expected to reduce by £230,000 as funds are transferred to the LA Revenue Support Grant.
Budget announcements
The Welsh Government has released its spending plans for the upcoming financial year, committing to increased funding for all departments. Notably, additional funding has been pledged to support the construction of more council and housing association homes.
An allocation of £81 million in the budget aims to reduce homelessness and ‘ensure everyone in Wales has a place to call home’. Welsh Labour’s manifesto promised to create 20,000 social homes for rent by 2026. While the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru welcomed this investment, it noted that the total allocated amount of £437 million falls short of the £580 million to £740 million estimated to achieve the 20,000-home target
Final reflections
During the conference, a fellow delegate with lived experience shared that ‘the hostel team saw and heard me which was the first time this had ever happened. They gave me hope and the confidence to believe that I deserved something better’. That says it all.
Anna Cooley-Greene is principal consultant at Altair. Contact Anna on anna.cooleygreene@altairltd.co.uk to discuss how Altair can support your supported housing requirements.