Government failing to rehouse the homeless despite promises, warns charity

Gains from pandemic rehousing scheme at risk of being ‘squandered’ if government doesn’t act

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Fewer than one in four homeless people cared for under a new government scheme have been given a permanent place to stay, new figures show.

A new initiative, called Everyone In, set up during the pandemic was designed to get rough sleepers off the streets. The government scheme provided temporary homes for over 37,000 people.

However, housing charity Shelter has warned that many people cared for by the project are still in short-term accommodation or even back on the streets.

Data from Freedom of Information requests to every council in England showed that more than three quarters of those initially accommodated were still in emergency or temporary accommodation or were likely to have returned to the streets.

This totals around 29,000 people, data from the charity Shelter revealed.

They warned that the gains from the “watershed” scheme were at risk of being “squandered” if the government did not take swift action to ensure these people had permanent accommodation, The BBC reported.

The government said the figures were “misleading” and that it would “build on the progress made” by the scheme.

Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, said: “We’re gravely concerned that with funding for Everyone In running out, and councils returning to ‘business as usual’, we will see people forced out onto the streets.

“It would be a travesty if we allowed rough sleeping to slide back to pre-pandemic levels.

“The government needs to get a grip on this situation urgently and look at what comes next.”

She added: “The country opening back up isn’t an excuse to forget about homeless people.”

A government spokesperson said that the charity’s analysis had not taken into account people who had moved into supported housing or who had been reconnected with family and friends.

They defended the initiative as “a considerable success” and said that 26,000 people have already moved into longer-term accommodation.

Everyone In was developed at the end of March 2020 after concerns were raised about the vulnerability of rough sleepers as coronavirus spread.

The project aimed to put a roof over the head of everyone on the streets in England. As of January 2021, 37,000 homeless people had received accommodation through the scheme.