Homelessness in Gosport drops in promising new development for the town

Gosport Borough Council working in partnership with Neil Morland Co has published their homelessness review alongside a strategy for 2022 to 2027.

All housing authorities have to demonstrate a strategic responsibility to tackle the issue, councils can carry out assessments to prevent or relieve someone experiencing homelessness.

The homelessness review outlines recent data, showing what type of households are most at risk along with the preventative measures used.

The review states: ‘Between 2018/19 and 2020/21 the annual number of initial assessments undertaken by Gosport council reduced by 21 per cent from 542 to 427.

‘Despite a year-on-year reduction in assessments, the number of relief cases has increased over the three-year period.

‘Single male households year-on-year, increasingly make up the largest percentage of applicants owed a prevention or relief duty, followed by single females with dependent children and single females.

‘Despite an overall reduction in the number of assessments, single male applicants are the only household type to record an increase each year.

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‘Rough sleeper numbers are inconsistent having increased and decreased each year, comparing 2016 to 2020 there is a 50 per cent reduction.

‘All rough sleepers recorded over the five-year period are of UK nationality, 77 oer cent were male and 91 per cent over 26 years old.

‘The main “reason for loss of last settled home” – is as a result of households no longer able to stay with friends or family and termination of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.’

When a household is eligible for assistance, housing authorities are responsible for carrying out an assessment to create a personal plan.

Options such as arranging temporary, short-term or even permanent accommodation can be considered along with adult and child social care services.

Currently, the council owns Agnew and Barclay house which provides 56 and 28 temporary accommodation units respectively.

Across the area, there has been a decline in the number of people sleeping rough on the streets.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data shows there were 24 rough sleepers in Portsmouth during a spot check one night between October and November last year.

This was down from 29 in 2020 and 26 in 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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