Winchester civic chiefs agree to proposals to combat homelessness

Civic chiefs agreed to proposals laid out in a new report which aims to free up housing for the most vulnerable, avoiding a significant financial risk of the emergency accommodation budget increasing from £25,000 to between £166,000 and £999,000.

The proposals include repurposing 80-82 Sussex Street, also known as Westgate Place, into temporary accommodation, amending the current move-on policy for households in council-owned temporary accommodation, and negotiating with Hampshire County Council (HCC) on the level of funding WCC will require to support the households affected by the closure of West View House in Hyde Gate.

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Committee chair Cllr Chris Westwood, at the housing committee on Tuesday, said that the report was “brought to the committee due to the rising number of homeless people” in both the district and the country as a whole, with the report warning that, in the last financial year, the council experienced a 122 per cent increase in approaches from households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Cllr Caroline Horrill said that plans for West View House had not been included, saying: “One of the significant moving parts is the decision by Hampshire (County Council) to continue the funding until 2026 around the West View Project, but also the decision by the provider to pull out of that. And obviously, that is a significant piece of the equation in terms of beds and support. I don’t see that addressed in this paper, is it something we have a separate work to consider and how it might provide some benefit?”

Karen Thorburn, council strategic housing manager, answered: “We started this paper a long time ago, and we’ve had to change it as HCC have made their decisions. They have extended the funding until 2026, but for us, with A2 serving notice on their contract, all that HCC is committing to funding until next April is the £24,500 to Winchester Beacon and the 13 beds at 84-84 Sussex Street.”

She continued: “Initially West View House housed 29 residents and when we were aware of the closure we put a plan together with A2 and our colleagues at the county on how we could move on the residents of West View to somewhere they could live.”

Ms Thorburn said that work is being done to get the residents, of whom 15 are still living at West View, ready to live in alternative accommodation, whether independent or supported.

Questions were also raised about providing accommodation to men given early release from Winchester Prison, with council officer Charlotte Quinn saying that the council is in communication with the prison, with the housing team being informed when prisoners who need housing are being released.

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Cllr Martin Tod, council leader, asked: “With a housing first model, I understand that the use of a housing first worker in order to provide the support for people who have high needs but are ready to undertake that journey towards having a tenancy. Do we have any particular buildings in mind?”

Ms Thorburn answered: “We have one housing first model operating, which we commissioned A2Dominion to provide support, and ourselves and a couple of residential providers are providing the accommodation, so that will be seven bed spaces over a three-year period.

“Going forward, if we could get another worker - It doesn’t create new bed spaces because we need to take seven properties out of the housing stock, and that would be WCC stock, it does provide seven bed spaces with the level of support some of our residents need.”

The proposals laid out in the report were agreed to by the committee members.