Councillor Chris Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities) introduced the report and highlighted:

a)     He had committed to taking a homelessness update to the Housing and Community Services Scrutiny Panel every six months;

b)    Levels of homelessness had significantly increased, putting a substantial pressure on the Council’s budget;

c)     Before the COVID19 pandemic, Bed and Breakfast and temporary accommodation cost £800,000 per year, the current cost was £4.6 million;

d)    The increase in homelessness was not caused by any failing of the Council, however, the Council had legal responsibilities to provide homelessness services, and was under immense pressure;

e)     The private rented sector was reducing as many people no longer wanted to be landlords;

f)      Affordable housing was being put into the market, but people were moving less often than in the past meaning less was available, and some affordable housing was being allocated to relieve homelessness, which removed more from the system for people who wanted to move for other reasons;

g)     The lead in time build more homes were long, resource to get houses built was low and viability issues were getting worse;

h)    PCC was working with partners to prevent people from becoming homelessness;

i)      The sooner people informed the Council that they might be at risk of becoming homeless, the sooner the Council might be able to find a solution, preventing someone from becoming homeless;

j)      The team were also looking at how to stop people from becoming ‘stuck’ in the system and finding people permanent accommodation;

k)     There was a successful and supportive multi-agency system in place for homeless people;

l)      PCC was working with partners to use Local Authority Housing Funds (LAHF) to purchase houses for temporary accommodation, as well as to support the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS);

m)   It was especially important that children were in longer-term, better equipped and better supported temporary accommodation if it was required, rather than being in B&B’s;

n)    Expressed his thanks to the Bournemouth Church Housing Association (BCHA) and Plymouth Access to Housing (PATH) for working with the Council on accommodation based solutions;

o)    A Plan for Homes 1 Year review would go to Scrutiny and Cabinet later in 2025;

p)    Expressed his thanks to everyone involved in improvising homelessness in the city who were all doing amazing work across the Council and partners.

Matt Garrett (Service Director for Community Connections) added:

q)    The teams were working very hard to improve homelessness rates across the city, and the report included some positive feedback received.

In response to questions the following was discussed:

r)     In future reports both the capital and revenue costs of the service would be included;

s)     Not all people who were homeless were rough sleepers, and homelessness was a very complex issue.

Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) asked:

t)     Thanks be given to the team for the hard work they did every day to support people across the city, from the Cabinet;

u)    New opportunities with Homes England and Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) were in the pipeline, but would take time to come to fruition.

The Cabinet agreed to note the report.