Portsmouth’s £5.7m homelessness grant hailed by MPs, with concerns over long-term housing challenges
Portsmouth’s £5.7m homelessness funding boost has been welcomed by local MPs, but councillors warn it may fall short in tackling the city’s temporary accommodation bill.
The funding, part of a nearly £1bn national programme to combat homelessness and rough sleeping, follows a campaign by the Portsmouth MPs. Announced today, the funds will be allocated to Portsmouth City Council through Homelessness and Rough Sleeping grant schemes.
Under the previous government, homelessness reached record levels, with 117,450 households, including 151,630 children, in temporary accommodation as of March 2024. In Portsmouth, unmet housing targets have left many residents in unstable homes.
To tackle the crisis, the Labour government has committed to building 1.5m homes this Parliament, alongside launching a cross-government taskforce to address homelessness long-term.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said: “After years of failure at local and national level to build the homes that we need, Portsmouth is experiencing a housing crisis with more and more families placed in temporary accommodation.
“Amanda and I have been working with government to bring this huge investment to Portsmouth. We will continue to do everything in our power to tackle homelessness in our city and provide the homes people in our city deserve.”
Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin added: “The council must now urgently get a grip of the housing crisis in Portsmouth, from those in temporary accommodation to building genuinely affordable and council homes for local people. The council needs to step up and get building. People in Portsmouth voted for change, we are determined to deliver it.”
Councillor Darren Sanders, cabinet member for housing, welcomed the funding but warned of challenges ahead.
“We’re delighted there’s extra money available, but it still poses problems for us. My reading of the settlement is that only half can be used for temporary accommodation,” he said.
While the funding is aimed at prevention and reducing temporary housing reliance, Cllr Sanders noted it “won’t stop the budget problem going forwards” in his view.
A Portsmouth City Council spokesperson said: "The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping grant allocation equates to an increase of £1.2m to support our homelessness prevention work and temporary accommodation offer, whilst the amount we will receive to support people rough sleeping in the city remains at the same level as last year, our work in this area will remain a funding challenge.
"It's also important to note that the funding announced is for next year, from April 2025 onwards. It will not address the current year's temporary accommodation funding gap (Council proposes to highlight temporary accommodation crisis - Portsmouth City Council).
"We have already taken a range of measures to ensure people have a safe and secure home, and make sure instances of homelessness in the city are prevented or reduced, and it is our mission to ensure this continues."