Sheffield City Council projects £8million loss on temporary and supported accommodation

The council’s housing policy committee will next week (March 21) discuss a paper about the financial impact of temporary nightly paid accommodation in Sheffield.

Due to regulations around the matter, during the previous financial year (2022/23), the council had a total loss of £5.9million.

This year (2023/24), the loss has grown “rapidly” with the projection being at £8.4m as the council cannot claim the whole amount back from the government,

The report says: “When using B&B (bed and breakfast) the amount of benefit that the council can reclaim from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is restricted to the subsidy cap of £98 per week even though the average cost of a placement is £500 per week.”

Expenditure, it adds, increased from £190k in 2018/19 to £4.5m in 2022/23.

Essentially, the council pays up front and then is meant to claim back the money from the government, however, what the government is giving is nowhere near what the council is paying, leading to the loss.

The report says that nationally there are now more than 100,000 households in temporary accommodation “which is the highest figure for 20 years”.

In 2022/23, the government is said to have spent £1.74billion on temporary accommodation.

Officers projected that without more help, the costs could go up as high as £15m in 2028 in Sheffield so officers said it is critical action is taken.

Data also shows that in Sheffield 340 households were in B&Bs in February 2024, and 66 were families with children.

Also, the report says that homelessness presentations have increased from 1,319 in 2016/17 to 3,964 in 2022/23 with it projected to hit 4000 in 2023/24 in Sheffield.

Rough sleeping has also increased from 15 individuals found on the official count in 2022 to 31 in 2023.