78 households living in B&Bs in Monmouthshire

There are 78 households in Monmouthshire who are currently living in B&Bs due to homelessness.

A report on the council’s homeless plan says the current “situation in Monmouthshire continues to be extremely challenging due to the lack of temporary and permanent accommodation and the continuing level of need for homeless support”.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic also means the council has experienced “a significant increase” in demand for homelessness accommodation and the issue has been “exacerbated” because people cannot stay with friends or family.

In Monmouthshire there are currently more than 200 people living in temporary accommodation. Of these, 49 households are in shared housing and 15 are families.

Currently there are 78 households are living in B&Bs. This includes seven people living at a transport service station.

A council presentation on the homeless plan says the majority of those that are homeless are young people, those suffering from mental health issues, those suffering from substance misuse or offenders.

Council officers have raised concerns over an ongoing lack of temporary accommodation, which has led to a reliance on B&Bs.

The report says: “Placements in temporary accommodation and B&B are not declining yet and the average stay in temporary accommodation is longer than normal due a lack of suitable alternative accommodation move-on.

“Social letting vacancies were lower for 20/21 due to tenants not being able to move, thereby impacting on property turnover.

“There continues to be a significant proportion of applicants who need specialist accommodation and specialist/intensive housing support.”

Concerns were also raised bbyy offivers over the end of furlough and end to the suspension of evictions, which could lead to an increase in those needing temporary accommodation.

The cabinet did approve additional funding in March to increase the homelessness budget so more staff could be hired.