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South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) are consulting on their Homeless Strategy for 2023 to 2028. The district council are the local authority who have a responsibility for housing and homelessness in their area.

Homelessness review and strategy

Under the Homelessness Act 2002, local housing authorities must carry out a homelessness review for their district and formulate and publish a homelessness strategy based on the results of that review. The strategy must be renewed at least every 5 years and sets out the authority’s plans for the prevention of homelessness and the provision of accommodation and support for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The aims and priorities from this review will help to shape SCDC’s strategic approach for the next five years.

The priorities for the next strategy are grouped into two main aims:

To provide homeless prevention, early intervention, and support.

To provide suitable housing options.

South Cambs want input from the public on whether these are the right priorities and if there is anything missing from the strategy.

Priorities for 2023-2028

As at March 2023, there were a total of 1738 applicants on the housing register for SCDC. The highest proportion of these were single people.1 Private rents in South Cambridgeshire are unaffordable for those on benefits or low incomes. This presents a serious challenge for single homeless people looking to move on from supported accommodation to secure and sustainable tenancies of their own.

We’re keen to see the options for single people improved and are pleased to see this reflected in SCDC’s aims to increase access to privately rented accommodation through Shire Homes Lettings and a project with Ermine Street (SCDC’s housing company) to provide additional single person self-contained accommodation.

You can take a look at the review and give your input on the strategy here: www.scambs.gov.uk/homeless-strategy

The consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 5 January 2024.

Key findings from the homeless review. p.10 https://www.scambs.gov.uk/media/mtvmxwuv/homeless-strategy-2023.pdf ↩︎