Pendle Council is aiming to buy some local houses to offer temporary accommodation for people facing homelessness, rather than resorting to more expensive bed-and-breakfast arrangements or rental properties owned by private landlords.
Under the law, councils are required to find temporary shelter for people in housing difficulties. But rising ‘unaffordable’ rents charged by private landlords, reduced council housing options and other factors have led Pendle Council to seek a different route.
Housing topics have been the focus of debate among councillors at various meetings in recent years, from full councils to area committees including Colne and Nelson. Concerns have included homelessness and housing pressures on local families, family separation, financial pressures of energy bills, rent and mortgages; better home insulation, improvements and extensions to traditional terraced houses, and getting empty homes back into use.
At their latest meeting, leading councillors on Pendle’s executive approved the purchase of several properties to increase temporary accommodation provision. Councillors also approved the use of money from an allocation called the Local Authority Housing Fund to buy two of the properties.
They also approved to the new Pendle Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy for 2025 – 2030, which aims to ensure the council continues meeting its duties to provide suitable temporary accommodation for homeless people.
Phillip Spurr, Pendle Council’s director of place, said: “As cases of homelessness have increased, the use of temporary accommodation has also increased. At the same time, affordable housing has reduced as the private rented sector has become unaffordable and the availability of social housing has reduced.
“This has resulted in existing temporary accommodation becoming blocked and the only other option is often expensive bed and breakfast alternatives. Options were looked at and now councillors have agreed that Pendle Council purchase and renovate five, two-bedroom, long-term empty properties within Pendle.”
The council has been granted funding of £149,000 to purchase two properties. One will be for temporary accommodation for people who have become homeless and the other for temporary family accommodation linked to the national Afghan Resettlement Programme.
Under the Homelessness Act, Pendle Council must carry out a homelessness review and form a strategy based on the results. As a result, the new Pendle Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy has been developed.
It aims to prevent homelessness and ensure there is a safety net of accommodation for people who are or may become, homeless. It also supports have been homeless in the past and need support to prevent this happening again.
Wayne Forrest, a housing needs manager at the council, added: “There has been a notable increase in homelessness applications over the past few years, which is heavily impacting on the need to provide temporary accommodation for homeless people in Pendle.
“As such, a significant part of the strategy is dedicated to the prevention of homelessness and an action plan has been created.”
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