London homelessness action team created by Communities and Local Government and the Housing Corporation
Housing Corporation News Release
London homelessness action team created by Communities and Local Government and the Housing Corporation
24 January 2007 Media Contact: Naomi Evans 020 7393 2118 Ref: 06/2007
The creation of a new joint London homelessness action team to support the work of the Capital's local authorities and housing associations in preventing and tackling homelessness has been announced by Communities and Local Government and the Housing Corporation today (24 January 2007).
Based within the Corporation's London Field Office, the homelessness action team will be made up of senior level secondees from local authorities and housing associations. A number of key appointments have already been made and recruitment for the final positions is currently underway.
The team will take on the existing good practice work of Communities and Local Government in relation to London local authorities, increasing the expertise and experience focused on this work. The team will also be responsible for promoting and sharing good practice in amongst housing associations across London, with a particular focus on homelessness prevention.
With over 60,000 households in London living in temporary accommodation, both Communities and Local Government and the Housing Corporation see this new team as critical to preventing and tackling homelessness.
Housing Corporation Chief Executive, Jon Rouse, said,
"With an aim to halve the numbers of households living in temporary accommodation by 2010, this vital partnership between local authorities and housing associations will play a critical role in achieving this."
Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper , said, “We are committed to supporting boroughs in the Capital to help them meet our target to halve the use of temporary accommodation in London, as is being achieved across rest of the country.
“This joint venture between us and the Housing Corporation will cement the relationships between local authorities and housing associations, and will step up the support available to help families out of temporary accommodation in the capital. But ultimately we need to build more homes. That is why we have changed the planning rules to make clear we need more new family homes in the London, and across the country.”
Ends.
Notes to Editors
1) The Government’s homelessness strategy – Sustainable Communities: settled homes; changing lives was published on 14 March 2005.
The strategy takes forward innovative measures announced in ODPM’s 5 year plan Sustainable Communities: Homes for All, supported by increased investment in homelessness prevention from £60 million in 2005/06 to £74 million in 2007/08. It includes a target to cut the number of households living in temporary accommodation by half by 2010 also sets out steps to provide more settled homes and initiatives across Government departments to tackle the wider symptoms and causes of homelessness, including action on health, employment, relationship breakdown, services for children and other associated issues.
The Housing Corporation has made tackling homelessness a priority and in November 2006 published its own homelessness strategy.
2) The Housing Corporation is the government agency responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating over 1,500 housing associations across England. Its biggest ever investment programme of £3.9 billion for 2006-08 will fund 84,000 homes; 49,000 of these will be for affordable rent, and 35,000 will be for affordable sale through the Government's new HomeBuy initiative, helping people to get a foot on the property ladder.
