Calls for families and homeless people to be housed quicker in Northampton

The Labour party is putting forward a motion at tomorrow's full council meeting (March 9) which calls on the council to house eligible families in permanent housing, adopt a Housing First model and set up a ‘fully functioning’ social lettings agency in time for the new unitary authority council that will replace it next April.

The motion, submitted by Councillor Zoe Smith, states: “The cost of temporary accommodation is putting huge pressure on our budget every year. It is time to call a halt to this.

“We call on the council to house eligible families in permanent housing straight away. This would be kinder, cheaper, and more effective. We call on the council to use the Homes First model to take people off the street and make them safe.

“We call on the council to fulfil its 2015 manifesto promise and ensure we have a fully functioning social lettings agency by the time we go to unitary. A social lettings agency will help us with the supply side by working with private landlords, investing in empty properties, and bringing back into use properties that are hard to let.“

The Housing First model, in particular, is one that the council has been exploring. An overview and scrutiny committee involving councillors from all parties examined homelessness issues in the town over many months, and recommended last May that NBC adopt the Housing First model.

The model, which has been adopted in other countries such as the USA and Finland, would see rough sleepers be given accommodation without required conditions having to be met, other than maintaining their tenancy.

Currently, homeless people have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for housing, while other organisations offering accommodation may insist on drug or alcohol tests.

The contents of that report were noted by the council’s cabinet in September, but no firm commitment has been made to adopt such a model.