At long last the independent National Audit Office has slammed the former Tory government’s failure in reducing the homelessness crisis for having no real policy or targets to work to as well as being unable to put provide a cogent strategy to increase housing supply.

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The NAO recent report was published last week and covered the last two years of the Conservative governments.

The NAO does appreciate that homelessness is a highly problematic issue and is badly affected by many social and economic factors as well as government policies for housing, welfare and asylum.

However the Audit Office states that “statutory homelessness has increased significantly in recent years, meaning that more people are finding themselves either with no stable place to live or in temporary accommodation provided by their local authority.”

During 2022-23 temporary accommodation provided by local authorities cost over £1.6 billion in 2022-23, and there are varying qualities of lodging availability along with regulatory shortfalls and in some cases B&Bs being used for households with children is just not suitable.  

The organisation warns the new government that “Dealing with homelessness is creating unsustainable financial pressure for some local authorities.”

There are two important key paragraphs within its report that concentrate on the Private Rental Sector.

It says: “A lack of housing for social rent results in households being pushed into the private rented sector, which is typically more expensive and provides a less secure tenancy than the social rented sector. The ending of a private rented sector assured shorthold tenancy is one of the biggest drivers of homelessness, accounting for around 23% of households … in Quarter 3, 2023-24. Just as significantly, a lack of housing for social rent limits the routes out of homelessness for households in temporary accommodation, as local authorities often cannot find them private rented sector properties in the local area that are affordable within LHA rates.

“Some stakeholders suggested they had identified a rise in the number of households presenting as homeless due to landlords leaving the private rented sector. Common reasons might include rising mortgage costs, increased profitability in the short-term letting market, and uncertainty around proposed new housing legislation such as the Renters Reform Bill and potential changes to landlords’ eviction rights. Demand in the sector has also increased due to high levels of net migration and an increase in the number of households since 2013.”

The NAO's verdict on the former Conservative government's tackling of the crisis is summarised by: “The situation has worsened since we last examined the issue in 2017. Despite the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act in 2017, homelessness numbers are at a record level and expected to increase. While [the former Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities] has developed much better homelessness data and stronger links with local authorities, the [former] government still has no strategy or public targets for reducing statutory homelessness, and DLUHC is falling behind on key programmes to improve housing supply.

“Funding remains fragmented and generally short-term, inhibiting homelessness prevention work and limiting investment in good-quality temporary accommodation or other forms of housing.