Funding boost for Leeds to tackle homelessness in the city announced on Tuesday

Thousands of people in Leeds will be protected from homelessness as the result of a £2.3 million funding boost, announced by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on Tuesday.
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The government’s Homelessness Prevention Grant will support households in England who are homeless or at risk of losing their home.

Leeds Council is expected to use the funding to help them find a new home, access support for unexpected evictions and secure temporary accommodation where needed.

Funding boost for Leeds to tackle homelessness in the city
cc JPIFunding boost for Leeds to tackle homelessness in the city
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Funding boost for Leeds to tackle homelessness in the city cc JPI
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The grant funding will be targeted at areas with high numbers of homeless people.

The funding includes an additional £84,766 to support people in Leeds forced into homelessness by domestic abuse.

This follows the landmark Domestic Abuse Act, which ensures councils give people who find themselves in this situation “priority need” for assistance.

Since the Homelessness Reduction Act came into force in 2018, over 400,000 households have been successfully prevented from losing their homes or supported into settled accommodation, with rough sleeping levels falling 37% between 2019 and 2020.

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Minister for Rough Sleeping, Eddie Hughes, said: “I have seen first-hand the devastation of those who come face to face with homelessness, and my heart goes out to anyone in this situation.

“The support we are announcing today is going directly to communities that need it most.

“It will help thousands of people across England, with councils able to prevent homelessness before it occurs and put a roof over the heads of those who have lost their homes.”

The Homelessness Prevention Grant, available for 2022/23, is on top of the recently-announced £66 million to provide rough sleepers with safe and warm accommodation and drug and alcohol treatment services this winter, and £65 million support package for vulnerable renters struggling due to the impact of the pandemic.

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Overall, the government is investing £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

Government has also announced a £28 million funding boost to help rough sleepers get their COVID-19 vaccines and move into safe accommodation.

The Protect and Vaccinate scheme will help to increase vaccine uptake among people who are homeless and sleeping rough, by supporting outreach work in shelters to educate people about the dangers of the virus, giving money to councils to provide safe and secure accommodation while their level of vaccination is increased and delivering mobile vaccinations.

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