Just over 90 people were evicted from emergency housing in a year, mostly for threatening staff or for anti-social behaviour, according to a new report.
The evictions came after Brighton and Hove City Council housed 800 people during the coronavirus pandemic as part of the government’s “Everyone In” programme.
Those who were housed had been rough sleeping, at risk of rough sleeping or living in dormitories.
A report to the council’s Housing Committee said that 55 of the 91 people who were evicted in the year to the end of March had been housed through the Everyone In programme.
And of those 91 evictions, 26 placements ended because of anti-social behaviour, 18 because of threats to staff or other residents, 16 because of drug dealing or drug taking and 15 after premises were damaged.
The eviction rate fell from the previous year – from April 2020 to March 2021 – when the council found emergency housing for 1,581 people and 253 were evicted.
Slightly fewer were housed from April 2021 to March 2022, with 1,485 people in emergency housing, and the 91 evictions equated to 6 per cent.
The report said: “Our welfare team has been key in reducing overall levels of eviction from emergency accommodation and their early involvement has been key in the significant reduction in evictions seen in the last period.
“The approach has also been successful in our (the council’s) first owned emergency accommodation, Manoj House, which saw zero evictions in the 2021-22 period.”
But the report said that Manoj House – formerly Gladstone Court in Hartington Road, Brighton – housed people with low needs who were less likely to be evicted and had staff on site.
The report said that “move-on accommodation” for people with multiple and complex needs through Housing First, the Next Steps Accommodation Programme and the Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme had reduced the amount of time people stayed in emergency housing.
There were also separate statistics for those in supported housing in the papers prepared for the Housing Committee meeting next week.
There were 710 people in supported housing from 2021-22 and 23 – or 5 per cent – were evicted.
Of those 23, 20 were evicted for behaviour that “could not be managed safely” and three for rent arrears. The figures were described as “relatively low” in the report.
People in supported housing are assessed as having either low, medium or high needs and placed in accommodation with on-site support staff.
The largest number of evictions from supported housing were from the 52-bed Phase One hostel in Oriental Place, Brighton, which houses people with high and complex needs and had eight removals from 104 placements.
William Collier House, in North Road, Brighton, which can house 96 people with medium to high-level support needs, had five evictions out of 158 placements.
Council officials are due to “reprocure” emergency housing in the next few months and supported housing in the next year.
The report said that housing officials were looking at working with the health and adult social care team to assess people with additional needs to provide suitable housing and support.
The Housing Committee is due to meet at 4pm net Wednesday (28 September) at Hove Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
…
Reasons for ending emergency housing placements
- Anti-social behaviour – 26
- Threat to staff or residents – 18
- Substance misuse or dealing – 16
- Damage – 15
- Unauthorised visitors – 7
- Physical assault – 7
- Arrears – 1
- Arrested – 1
Why is the council housing in these people in the tourism town centre where they just harass shoppers and tourists and make the city look like a dump? 54 in one street alone. Poor residents. Simply not fair. They should have used secure manned accommodation on the outskirts of the city somewhere like at the old Argos site.
As we have found at our complex its not just a case of housing them, lots need help with the illness called addiction. I think we need high dependency units to try and help them.
Not every resident is bad, lots of staff are useless, I lived in hostel, 3 people on my floor were not getting any benefits, at a key work meeting I brought it up, and was told focus on myself, bit hard when people knock the door for food, cigs, cup,plates etc, the staff didn’t even tell these people they can get vouchers for food cloths etc, from council and staff can even fast track this, they used covid to stop visitors and still are, so some people who are to ill and suffer from mental health problems have not seen friends,family for ages i promise that it is not one sided
It’s the cycle and many are trapped in homelessness accommodation, especially the most vulnerable, I hear so many stories, these people are simply not cared for, treated with respect and are working with people who have actually lived experience, this would help people, people need help, not to be exploited and kept in what I can only see as Slave Homelessness, given up on!!!
Listen to the councillors and officers, they are almost always an issue, an irritation, a problem, not their failings as privileged people who often get it wrong, or give deals to their private sector mates and make them rich.
There is so much good in many, you are right so many are homeless and in work, we have had NHS Staff, Teachers and others homeless and in need.
They are all drunk, shouting at each other while dealing drugs