The new YMCA Together contract could prevent huge amounts being spent on expensive temporary accommodation
A homeless person’s tent in Liverpool City Centre(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Almost £2m could be saved by Liverpool Council on expensive temporary hotel stays for people facing homelessness as it signs a new deal for a housing support service. The city council’s cabinet is poised to sign off on a two-year contract with YMCA Together to provide on-site support for those who are homeless and require low to medium levels of support.
YMCA Together delivers all housing management functions including a 24-hour concierge and the support provider will deliver the 24-hour support service to the service users. The aim of the service will be to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of those needing support while aiding their transition into more permanent accommodation.
Council documents said the support contract, which could be signed off next week, will facilitate the re-housing of homeless single people from expensive hotel/B&B accommodation to housing less costly and more appropriate to their needs. It is thought the move will save the local authority around £1.8m.
A rough sleeper in Liverpool city centre(Image: Liverpool Echo)
City leaders are being recommended to award a contract for a period of up to two years with the option to extend for a further three. It is proposed the services will be provided at Camden Place, Camden Street in the city centre.
A report said: “The rationale for this on-site provision is to enable homeless people who require such support to be accommodated at Camden Place, rather than in unsuitable temporary provision such as B&B or hotel accommodation.
The on-site service will be capable of supporting up to 49 service users at any one time.
“This approach will help to ensure that homeless people have access to the support they require to enable successful move on into sustainable and appropriate permanent accommodation.”
Under current B&B arrangements, Liverpool Council pays the full nightly cost, often unrecoverable from housing benefit.
Under the proposed new arrangements most or all of the rent can be covered by benefits, not the council’s core budget.
This significantly reduces the council’s direct financial burden compared to B&B.
This means that for any homeless person re-housed at Camden Place, the cost of their accommodation currently borne by the city council is avoided.
As a result, each year up to £1.8m of hotel accommodation costs will be avoided through this alternative provision – assuming that each single person remains at Camden Place for as long as they would otherwise have remained in temporary accommodation.
The cost of the proposed new two-year support contract is £626,348.
Should the three-year contract extension be taken up the total cost of the five-year contract would be £1.5m.