‘I don’t know what to do’: Northampton man fears becoming homeless again amid funding row between council and housing charity
A Northampton man says he’s afraid he will soon be made homeless again as a dispute over housing benefit payments between a local charity and the council continues.
Michael McKew, 40, lives in temporary accommodation provided by NAASH (Northampton Association for Accommodation of Single Homeless) in a property in Northampton town centre.
NAASH provides supported accommodation for people who are homeless and works to help them transition into longer-term housing.
Michael told the Chronicle & Echo: “I was homeless and obviously, this is like a temporary accommodation thing. The last few months or something, the council and NAASH are having disagreements about money. And basically, they've stopped paying NAASH.”
Michael has lived in the same room for over two years and says the accommodation helped him turn his life around.
“Getting a roof over my head did help me get back on track, yeah,” he said. “And actually, I've got my family back as well.”
Asked what will happen if he is evicted, he said: "I'll be on the street, mate... Back on the street."
A spokesperson for NAASH said: “At this time NAASH have no evictions planned. We are still working with WNC to try and resolve the ongoing housing benefit issues with housing benefit. We cannot indicate if or how many tenants could be affected by evictions if the situation arises. We continue to offer support to all of our tenants as expected as we do on a daily basis.”
In response, West Northamptonshire Council said the issue centres on a lack of supporting evidence for claims made by NAASH.
Reform councillor Charlie Hastie, cabinet member for housing, said: “The council is very mindful of the impact the current situation is having, and of the difficult position tenants now face as a result of the challenges affecting NAASH.
“The council has been working over a long period to try and address anomalies in the housing benefits claims made for NAASH properties and the tenants that live there.
“Housing benefit is governed by nationally set regulations and where evidence cannot be provided to support claims that have been put in then we are not able to pay benefit, this is also true of historic payments which if, upon review, are not supported by the required evidence also have to be recovered as overpayments.
“The council has no choice in this matter as the government both sets the regulations and will not pay the council to meet these costs if they do not comply with the regulations.”
NAASH says it has provided evidence of support as required and cannot make any further comment.