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4th Report - Tackling homelessness

Public Accounts Committee HC 352 Published 24 January 2025

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

38 items (18 recs)

Source

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Government Response

AI assessment · 37 of 38 classified

Accepted in Part 2

Not Addressed 1

Recommendations

14 results

2 Accepted

Strengthen MHCLG's use of HAST advisers and support local authorities to reduce B&B reliance.

Recommendation

It is unacceptable that B&B accommodation is being used routinely to house people rather than as a last resort. We are alarmed at the detrimental impact that living in B&B accommodation has on people’s lives–not least on children, whose safety … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and has launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots with £8 million funding for 20 local authorities to reduce B&B use. Its Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST) advisers continue to work with all local authorities, especially those with high demand.

HM Treasury

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9 Accepted

MHCLG exploring incentives and best practice sharing for homelessness prevention funding.

Recommendation

MHCLG told us that it was actively looking at ways to incentivise and support local government to move more funding into preventive rather than reactive activity.13 We pressed MHCLG on how it might achieve this. It explained that local authorities … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government accepts the recommendation and has provided the Committee with its plans, targeting implementation by April 2025, for incentivising local authorities to improve their homelessness prevention duties and share best practices.

HM Treasury

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17 Accepted

MHCLG lacks crucial data on distance of out-of-area placements for homeless families

Recommendation

We asked MHCLG how far away from their home area these families were living. It replied that it does not have the data to understand the exact figures involved, although it is aware that some families are being placed at … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation, and MHCLG is exploring publishing additional temporary accommodation data, including quantifying out-of-area placements, from its existing collection by April 2025 to enhance data availability and inter-authority coordination.

HM Treasury

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19 Accepted

MHCLG recognises need for stronger data on household placements, improving information sharing

Recommendation

MHCLG accepted that this is an area where it needs stronger and more transparent data. We asked if this was something that MHCLG’s homelessness case level information collection (H-CLIC) dataset could help with. It explained that, while joining up data … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation, with MHCLG exploring options to publish additional temporary accommodation data, including out-of-area placements, from its existing collection by April 2025 to improve data availability and local authority collaboration.

HM Treasury

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24 Accepted

DWP temporary accommodation subsidy remains below full costs; MHCLG's consideration unclear

Recommendation

DWP explained that it sets the subsidy level using a rate that has never covered local authorities’ full costs, to incentivise them in their procurement of temporary accommodation. MHCLG added that it considers local authorities’ financial position with regard to … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and states it has been implemented, with the DWP having written to the Committee on 21 February 2025 to justify the levels of Local Housing Allowance and temporary accommodation subsidy.

HM Treasury

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27 Accepted

Inter-ministerial group plans cross-government homelessness strategy for delivery by 2025

Recommendation

MHCLG explained that an inter-ministerial group on homelessness now exists, and it chairs the equivalent officials group. It plans to produce a cross-government strategy for tackling homelessness in 2025, which will include a number of metrics and set out the … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government accepts the recommendation to improve cross-government efficiency, committing to consolidate various homelessness grants into a single grant from 2025-26 and exploring further consolidation into the Local Government Finance Settlement from 2026-27.

HM Treasury

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28 Accepted

MHCLG acknowledges poor coordination of homelessness funding, committing to synthesise multiple grant streams

Recommendation

We pressed MHCLG on the poor coordination in funding for homelessness caused by the absence of a cross-government strategy. Local authorities need to understand numerous funding streams, from different government departments. MHCLG explained that its November 2024 local government funding … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation to improve funding coordination for homelessness, committing to consolidate three grants for 2025-26, and planning wider local government finance reform from 2026-27 to simplify grant funding and explore further homelessness grant consolidation.

HM Treasury

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29 Accepted

Home Office competition for accommodation drove up rents, prompting new coordination efforts

Recommendation

In May 2024, we reported our concern at the Home Office failing to engage effectively with local authorities about the impact on local areas of its efforts to house asylum seekers.40 In discussing homelessness, we asked MHCLG what was being … Read more In May 2024, we reported our concern at the Home Office failing to engage effectively with local authorities about the impact on local areas of its efforts to house asylum seekers.40 In discussing homelessness, we asked MHCLG what was being done to stop situations where local authorities are looking for a hotel to house homeless households, but they are outbid by the Home Office. MHCLG accepted that, in the past, the quality of co-ordination between the Home Office and local government had fallen short of what it should be. It stated that work was ongoing to improve that coordination and a new locally-led approach was being developed which aimed to reduce competition. For example, the Home Office had decided not to use accommodation in a particular area if local government was already using it. But MHCLG also emphasised that this is a situation where there are two conflicting sets of statutory duties: local government housing people to whom it owes a homelessness duty; and the Home Office accommodating asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, towards whom it also has a duty. It suggested that, where there is a scarcity of accommodation, some issues are inevitable.41 A week later we took evidence from the Home Office about its accommodation arrangements for asylum seekers. We raised again the issue of it competing for accommodation with the local authority, and driving up rents. The Home Office told us that one purpose of its joint work with MHCLG was to avoid the issue of it paying higher rates than the 38 Qq 44, 45, 47-50 39 Qq 51, 57, 75; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.7, 3.8 and Figure 8 40 Committee of Public Accounts, Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership, Thirty-Fourth Report of Session 2023–24, HC 639, 29 May 2024 41 Q 46 17 local authority in an area with small amounts of rental accommodation, and driving up rents as result. The Home Office said it now had a commitment “that if we ever hear that a local authority is seeking to acquire a particular p Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation, stating the Home Office is collaborating with MHCLG and local authorities to develop a future asylum accommodation strategy by after the Spending Review 2025, aimed at ending hotel use and reducing competition for accommodation.

HM Treasury

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31 Accepted

Stakeholders advocate reforms, funding consolidation, and partnerships to boost affordable housing supply

Recommendation

Many of the written submissions that we received focused on housing supply. The Chartered Institute of Housing, for example, made the case for increasing the supply of quality homes at social rents via government grant, because it would reduce overall … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation, committing to publishing a housing strategy after the Spending Review 2025 to increase housing supply and affordability, and notes Homes England's ongoing work to design a new Affordable Homes Programme.

HM Treasury

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32 Accepted

MHCLG identifies site viability and planning policy as key housing supply barriers, taking various actions

Recommendation

We pressed MHCLG on the main barriers to increasing housing supply. It replied that one of the key issues is viability of sites, and that it is engaging actively with local government on the use of Section 106 money (funding … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and plans to publish a housing strategy after the Spending Review 2025, outlining a long-term vision and actions to build 1.5 million homes and increase affordable housing, while also reporting Homes England's exceeding recent targets.

HM Treasury

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34 Accepted

MHCLG unable to commit to specific social housing targets for forthcoming strategy

Recommendation

We asked whether the strategy would also include clear targets for the number of social housing units that would need to be built. MHCLG explained that it could not make a commitment about the content of a strategy that is … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees to publish a housing strategy after the Spending Review 2025, which will include actions to build 1.5 million homes and increase affordable housing, with Homes England designing a new Affordable Homes Programme with updated targets.

HM Treasury

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36 Accepted

Previous report on supported housing sector published in November

Recommendation

We last reported on the supported housing sector in England in November

Government Response Summary

The government will implement the provisions of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act with a target implementation date of Summer 2026, following a consultation that was published on 20 February 2025.

HM Treasury

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37 Accepted

MHCLG to consult on supported housing regulations and licensing scheme in early 2025.

Recommendation

We asked MHCLG what progress it had made in implementing the Act. It replied that it would issue a consultation on the regulations and a licensing scheme for supported housing landlords early in 2025. It would seek to make the … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation, having published a consultation on 20 February 2025 on the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act's implementation, including a licensing regime and national standards, with a target implementation date of Summer 2026.

HM Treasury

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38 Accepted

Lack of clear standards for supported housing licensing schemes risks inconsistency.

Recommendation

We suggested that the licensing schemes that local authorities were considering would turn out to be very different from each other, unless there was a clear standard to be followed. We were concerned about evidence that, in the absence of … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and has published a consultation on 20 February 2025, which includes proposals for a locally led licensing regime and National Supported Housing Standards, aiming for implementation by Summer 2026.

HM Treasury

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Conclusions (15)

Observations and findings

3 Conclusion Accepted

Too many people’s lives are disrupted by being placed in temporary accommodation outside of their local area. For a variety of reasons, including lack of housing supply and suitability of accommodation, some local authorities struggle to place households in temporary accommodation within their local area. Over the period 2018–19 to …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and will publish improved data on out-of-area placements regularly to assist local authorities in coordination. It will also continue to explore additional steps to incentivise councils to use local provision, beyond existing legislative requirements.

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4 Conclusion Accepted

We are not convinced that, in setting Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has given due consideration to the impact on homelessness. Reforms to welfare benefits since 2011, including periodically capping and freezing LHA rates, have reduced the income households can derive from benefits …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation has been implemented, as the Department for Work and Pensions wrote to the Committee on 21 February 2025. This letter detailed its justification for the levels of Local Housing Allowance for both individuals and local authorities regarding temporary accommodation subsidy.

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5 Conclusion Accepted

Tackling homelessness has long been hampered by the absence of a joined up, cross-government approach. Each of the UK devolved administrations has an overarching homelessness strategy or action plan. By contrast, there is no strategy or target for homelessness in England, despite this Committee having recommended in 2017 that a …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation. It is monitoring reforms in Scotland and will engage with devolved administrations on its homelessness strategy. Regulations were implemented on 18 December 2024 to exempt all veterans from local connection tests, and MHCLG will bring forward further changes for victims of domestic abuse and care leavers under 25.

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6 Conclusion Accepted

The homelessness problem is being exacerbated by a severe shortage in housing supply, and especially affordable housing. Homes England, which is sponsored by MHCLG, fell below its central targets in 2022–23 in terms of new home starts, completions, unlocked housing capacity and households supported into home ownership. MHCLG accepts that …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees, clarifying that Homes England exceeded its targets for new homes, including affordable homes, in 2023-24. Homes England is currently designing a new Affordable Housing Programme with revised targets, and MHCLG will publish a housing strategy detailing actions to deliver 1.5 million new homes and increase affordable housing.

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7 Conclusion Accepted

Despite legislation designed to tackle well-established problems and gaps in regulation, MHCLG has made no progress in improving the oversight of the supported housing sector. Supported housing can provide much-needed homes for people transitioning from homelessness, or may stop people from becoming homeless in the first place. But this Committee …

Government Response Summary

The government published a consultation on 20 February 2025, open for 12 weeks, detailing proposals for a local licensing regime and national standards for supported housing, and seeking views on linking Housing Benefit.

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8 Conclusion Accepted

In its written submission, the Shared Health Foundation emphasised that, aside from plans to build more houses, national prevention strategies for all forms of homelessness remain limited. It claimed that many families facing homelessness are told by local authorities to wait until their eviction date before being provided with emergency …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and committed to sending its plans by April 2025 for incentivising local authorities to improve their homelessness prevention duties.

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10 Conclusion Accepted

MHCLG explained that a £230 million increase in allocations for homelessness in the autumn 2024 budget, including uplifts in the Homelessness Prevention Grant, and an improved wider local government finance settlement, should help local authorities to do more preventive work. It also summarised a number of other actions that might …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and committed to sending its plans by April 2025 for incentivising local authorities to improve their homelessness prevention duties.

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11 Conclusion Accepted

There are particular concerns about the use of B&Bs as temporary accommodation, regarding the suitability of the environment and location, safeguarding in mixed settings, and a lack of support from wider public services. Children in B&Bs often face particular challenges, such as not having the space for their physical development, …

Government Response Summary

The government states it agrees with the recommendation (despite the item being a conclusion) and has launched the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots in January 2025, backed by £8 million, to work with local authorities to reduce the use of B&Bs for homeless families.

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12 Conclusion Accepted

Reflecting these concerns, the homelessness code of guidance states that local authorities should use B&Bs for households with children only as a last resort, and even then, for a maximum of six weeks. However, MHCLG told us that, as at June 2024, due to the shortage of alternative options, there …

Government Response Summary

The government states it agrees with the recommendation (despite the item being a conclusion) and has launched the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots in January 2025, backed by £8 million, to work with local authorities to reduce the use of B&Bs for homeless families, addressing the issue of prolonged stays.

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13 Conclusion Accepted

MHCLG conceded that placing families in B&B accommodation is a “seriously sub-optimal” way of accommodating them. It therefore assumes that local authorities should use as little B&B accommodation as they can. However, if using B&Bs is the only way to meet statutory duties, MHCLG considers that it is value for …

Government Response Summary

The government launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots in January 2025 with £5 million, and an additional £3 million in February 2025, to work with 20 local authorities to reduce B&B use for homeless families. HAST advisers will also continue to support local authorities.

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14 Conclusion Accepted

We challenged MHCLG about what it is doing to help local authorities reduce their reliance on B&Bs. It explained that it had added a condition to the Homelessness Prevention Grant, so that it now requires any local authority with more than five families in B&B accommodation over the statutory six-week …

Government Response Summary

The government launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots in January 2025 with £5 million, followed by an additional £3 million in February 2025, to work with 20 local authorities to reduce B&B use for homeless families. HAST advisers will also continue to support local authorities.

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15 Conclusion Accepted

We asked MHCLG how successfully HAST was supporting local authorities to move away from B&B use. It told us that advisers are based in MHCLG offices all around the country, but they generally spend their time working alongside local authorities. HAST reviews information on B&B use quarterly and carries out …

Government Response Summary

The government states it agrees with the recommendation (despite the item being a conclusion) and has launched the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots in January 2025, backed by £8 million, to work with local authorities to reduce the use of B&Bs for homeless families.

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20 Conclusion Accepted

The LHA sets the maximum amount of housing support that claimants of housing benefit and universal credit can usually receive, to help with housing costs in the private rented sector.26 Since 2011, DWP has introduced welfare reforms designed to reduce overall welfare spending and incentivise benefit recipients to take up …

Government Response Summary

DWP wrote to the Committee on 21 February 2025, setting out its justification for the levels of Local Housing Allowance it has set, both for individuals and for local authorities with regard to the temporary accommodation subsidy.

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21 Conclusion Accepted

We asked DWP what analysis it had done on the extent to which homelessness is impacted by LHA rates not allowing people to afford rents in their area. It explained that the decision, for example, to freeze the LHA rate again for 2025–26 was not taken in isolation. It went …

Government Response Summary

The government states the recommendation is implemented and that DWP wrote to the Committee on 21 February 2025 to justify the Local Housing Allowance levels for individuals and local authorities regarding temporary accommodation subsidy.

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30 Conclusion Accepted

MHCLG has suggested that a significant ramping-up in affordable housing supply, beyond individual strategic sites, would be needed to make a substantial impact on homelessness, requiring new supply in areas where homelessness pressures are particularly acute, including the South East, South West and London. However, it has also conceded that …

Government Response Summary

The government states it agrees with the recommendation (despite the item being a conclusion) but refutes the claim that Homes England missed targets, stating it exceeded housing delivery targets in 2023-24, and commits to developing a new Affordable Homes Programme and publishing a housing strategy after the Spending Review 2025.

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