Homelessness prevention grant

13 April 2022

Your request & our response 

1. How much of the money allocated to the council through the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2021/22 has been spent as of March 1 2022? Please break down in table format how much of the funding was: A) From the £310million grant and B) From the £65m additional funding grant?

The £310m and £65m are the national grant amounts.  Lambeth's allocation of these are £5,812,888 and £1,218,831 respectively. 

Note that these grants only cover a part of the overall cost of delivering homelessness prevention services and the cost of temporary accommodation provision.  

We can account for the full year of 2021/22 to which these grants relate.  The figures below are for full 12 months.  The spend from April 1 2021 until March 1 2022 will therefore be 11/12ths of the year total given below.

2. What has the money allocated to the council through the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2021/22 been spent on? Please break down in table format

We will seek to carry over any used grant to next financial year.

4. How much of the Homelessness Prevention Grant allocated to the council in 2021/22 has been used to help: a) Households in rent arrears? b) Households at risk of eviction for other reasons? 

These grants contribute to the overall budget of our homeless prevention and temporary accommodation services.  We do not link funding to particular households.  In other words, if the service prevents someone from being homeless this is an outcome for the service as whole, only a part of which is funded through these grants. 

1,532 households were assessed as owed a homeless prevention duty in 2021/22.

4. How many households has the council helped through the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2021/22?

In 2021/22,  for 1,077 households the existing or alternative accommodation was secured as a prevention of homelessness. Actions taken included mediation with landlords/agents ,family ,and friends to prevent eviction; creating new tenancies in the private rented sector as a prevention of homelessness; securing supported housing placements for vulnerable adults; and  Sanctuary Scheme installations that helped households remain safe in their own home.

5. How many households have approached the council for support under the Homelessness Reduction Act between April 1 2021 and March 1 2022? Please state in table format how many households were owed a a) prevention duty b) a relief duty