Plan to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping in Portsmouth is approved

At a recent Portsmouth City Council meeting councillor Darren Sanders, cabinet member for housing and tackling homelessness, approved a new strategy for 2024-2029. The document outlines five strategic aims, with the first priority being preventing homelessness. Additionally, it aims to end rough sleeping, provide housing and support while strengthening collaborative working with other organizations. Out of the 2,149 homeless applications submitted to the council in 2022, 65 per cent were from individuals already homeless and therefore having relief services owed to them. Only 31 per cent of applications were from those threatened with homelessness, who were owed prevention work.

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Cllr Graham Heany asked officers why the council is less successful in preventative measures compared to relief. In response, Jo Bennet, assistant director of housing need and supply, said it’s common for “people to come to us past the point of preventing homelessness”. She said there are various approaches to preventing the most common causes of homelessness, which include people being evicted from their homes by family, friends, or private landlords.

“If someone comes to us at a point where relationships are starting to break down, we can sometimes mediate their capacity to remain in that housing,” she said. “However if situations are allowed to go on too long – you can find that the situation is past repair.”

The report lists the benefits of preventative measures, such as averting traumatic experiences for those vulnerable, eliminating the need for temporary accommodation, lessening the pressure on the social housing register and cutting costs for the public purse.

Cllr Sanders added: “Portsmouth is now seen as one of the best places in the country for tackling rough sleeping, in particular because we’ve got a plan to build council housing. Many things we can’t control but this strategy is an honest look at what we can and trying to build something that meets the needs of the future, not the past, and crucial to that is prevention. Too few people genuinely don’t tell us early enough, and they come to us when they’ve got a section 21 notice and they’re about to be evicted. That’s not their fault but it is one of the reasons why we’re not doing as well as we should do.”