Christmas hotel stays for rough sleepers extended further into new year

Hotel stays for rough sleepers over Christmas have been extended further into the new year in an attempt to give them “crucial extra time” to make plans to end their homelessness.

It is the third year the arrangements to get people off the streets, traditionally over the festive period, have been lengthened further into January.

Some 148 people who would otherwise be sleeping rough in London this winter will be supported with a hotel room, a dedicated support worker and access to housing and benefit advice until January 19, Crisis said.

The work by the homelessness charity, alongside St Mungo’s, is being funded by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Crisis said the extension means people not only have somewhere safe and comfortable to stay during what is generally the coldest time of year but are also able to access services including mental health and substance misuse support.

Crisis chief executive, Matt Downie, said: “Extending our hotel provision in London gives our guests, and the staff and volunteers they’ll be working with, crucial extra time to work on practical and sustainable plans to end their homelessness.

“In these extra weeks, guests will continue to receive tailored one-to-one support and will be provided with clear routes into year-round services on offer from organisations like Crisis.”

He said the hotel stays and specialist and personalised support provide “a dignified and proven approach that can, and does, change lives”.

Housing and homelessness minister Felicity Buchan said the funding forms part of the £2 billion the Government had previously announced it was investing over three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

The Government will not meet its target to end rough sleeping by the end of this parliament – a 2019 manifesto commitment – according to an expert group’s report last September.

The Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping said the target will be missed amid “chronic and unresolved” issues in the housing system, with the country facing an affordability crisis which is pushing more people onto the streets, and as pressure on public services results in a lack of early support to help prevention.

Government figures published in November showed that there were 8,442 people estimated to be sleeping rough in England over the month of September 2023, a rise of 17% since June that year and up 27% since the same period in 2022.