Hackney Council is set to invest £145 million in a comprehensive plan to tackle homelessness and improve the supply of temporary accommodation. The initiative, part of the Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation Supply Transformation Programme, aims to address rising demand, enhance the quality of housing, and reduce the council's reliance on expensive nightly-paid options.
The programme, which has been running for two years, focuses on three key workstreams: demand management, supply, and income generation. Councillor Abi Kingston, Deputy Cabinet Member for Homelessness Prevention and Temporary Accommodation, presented the progress to the Housing and Homelessness Scrutiny Commission, highlighting the significant financial commitment.
Under the demand management stream, efforts are underway to understand the root causes of homelessness and implement preventative measures. This includes redesigning the homelessness front door
service, investing in staff training, and strengthening partnerships with voluntary sector organisations and other public bodies to reach people before they reach crisis point. The council is also working on shaping expectations with residents and partners regarding the offers available and the limitations of the service, alongside improving the resident's journey through the service to make it more efficient and effective, reducing the need for residents to repeatedly share their personal circumstances.
However, a challenge identified is a 29% decrease in successful prevention and relief outcomes since 2025/26, partly attributed to private landlords leaving the market following the Renters' Rights Act. Key performance indicators used to measure homelessness outcomes include: homeless approaches, preventions of homelessness, placements into TA, total numbers in TA, and numbers of households leaving TA. Data on approaches is analyzed by demographics and reasons for approach, while data on households in TA is reviewed against different types of TA and household demographics. The duration families are placed in B&B accommodation is also closely monitored.
The supply workstream is focused on increasing the availability of cost-effective temporary accommodation. The council is investing £145 million in a capital programme for 2026/27 to acquire properties within Hackney and neighbouring boroughs. This aims to create a balanced portfolio of owned properties, long-term leases, and other flexible options, thereby improving quality and control over maintenance.
The £145 million capital programme budget is for 2026/27. Through the LAF scheme, an additional 120 units are expected to be delivered within the borough. Through the CHAP scheme, 125 units are on course to be delivered by the end of September 2026. The council has also made an aspirational bid for the GLA's new supported and affordable homes programme and is in regular conversation with the GLA about specific opportunities to leverage grant funding for acquisitions within the borough.
The council aims to ensure high quality by increasing its control over maintenance and repairs, whether directly or through contract management. This is preferred over relying on nightly paid providers where the council has less control. The council is also working to tighten the specification around quality in its procurement framework for temporary accommodation, with the goal of easily removing providers who offer poor quality accommodation. The council also conducts regular inspections of all temporary accommodation and has a surveyor within the team to carry out these inspections. They also undertake ad hoc visits to spot-check accommodation.
The average cost to the council for nightly paid placements is stated as £17,000 per household net every year,
with some high-cost families incurring costs of £40,000 a year.
The report also mentions that The more cost-effective TA tends to be either LBH-owned properties or long-term leases,
and that the £145 million capital programme budget is intended to deliver cost avoidance benefits compared to nightly paid accommodation.
The meeting states that the £145 million capital programme budget for 2026/27 is focused on delivering cost avoidance benefits compared to nightly paid accommodation. The savings profile indicates a projected £1 million in supply savings for 2026/27, with further savings in subsequent years. The council is also seeing a big impact with some of our targeted TA move on work
which has led to a big reduction in our spend on nightly paid providers.
The income workstream seeks to maximise government funding by reducing housing benefit subsidy loss. This involves aligning temporary accommodation rents with current Local Housing Allowance rates and exploring the transfer of temporary accommodation management to the council's housing company.
The council is nearing the end of detailed preparations for managing some of its temporary accommodation through the council's housing company. This involves drafting legal agreements and working out the framework between the council and the housing company, as well as operational process changes. The primary benefit of this transfer is to legally bypass or reduce
the housing benefit subsidy loss, thereby increasing income received from central government. The risk mentioned is the potential for changes to housing benefit regulations.
During the scrutiny commission meeting, councillors raised concerns about the quality of temporary accommodation, the impact of placing families out of borough, and the effectiveness of prevention strategies. Officers assured the commission that regular inspections are conducted and efforts are made to keep families within London and close to Hackney. The challenges posed by the shrinking private rented sector were also discussed, with a focus on developing attractive offers for landlords.
The council is looking at how to have a really attractive offer for landlords in light of the renters rights act.
This includes not just the financial offer but also the benefits of working with the council, such as help with tenancy sustainment and potentially rental insurance. The anticipated impact is to increase the number of households successfully prevented from becoming homeless and to make households an attractive offer for landlords.
The commission also reviewed and agreed its draft work programme for 2026/27, which includes a dedicated scrutiny item on the Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation Supply Transformation Programme, as well as other key housing-related topics. See the Public reports pack for the Housing and Homelessness Scrutiny Commission for more details.
