Nottingham is awarded over £3million to tackle homelessness

Nottingham is awarded over £3million to tackle homelessness 

Nottingham City Council announced today that it is one of 20 councils chosen to take part in the government’s Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilot (EARP).

The pilots, backed by £5 million in funding over 2025/26, will work with the 20 local authorities with the highest use of bed & breakfast (B&B) accommodation for homeless families, to test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives to reduce the use of B&Bs.

Local authorities were selected for the pilot based on the number of families in B&B accommodation for longer than six weeks, using homelessness data from June 2024. Last year in Nottingham there was an 8% increase in the number of homeless households; on average, 128 new homeless households seek support from the council every week, and the city currently has nearly 2,000 open homelessness cases, with around 700 families in emergency or temporary accommodation and over 450 single homeless people in supported accommodation.

The council has also been awarded a Homelessness Prevention Grant of £3,152,521 that is ring-fenced for use to meet council’s statutory duty to provide accommodation for homeless people in Nottingham. (The council has legal duties to assist homeless people in high need categories who meet the criteria of having a local connection to the city). The grant will support the provision of accommodation for homeless families and individuals from the city, as well as funding the Nottingham Private Rented Assistance Scheme (NPRAS) and staff support in tackling homelessness. 

Cllr Jay Hayes, Executive Member for Housing and Planning  at Nottingham City Council, said, “We welcome this support from the government that will help us address issues around homelessness in our city.

“The money will used to support people affected by homelessness, such as families forced out of private rented accommodation due to the cost of living crisis and genuinely homeless rough sleepers, and will help us deliver initiatives such as our Housing First project, which seeks to make sure that vulnerable homeless people are given housing and continued wrap-around support to help them maintain and stay in their homes.”

ENDS

Nationally, the homelessness funding has increased by £233m in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25 and is to be used to achieve the following outcomes: 

·       Services that are designed to meet local need across family and single homelessness and rough sleeping.

·       Delivery of a high-quality service that is accessible to all

·       Prevention of homelessness and rough sleeping

·       Incidences of homelessness and rough sleeping are brief 

·       Returns to homelessness and rough sleeping are minimalised.