In 2021-22, there were 1,162 approaches to the council from homeless people, or those at risk of homelessness — up 36% from 2020-21’s figure of 803.
And although the rise wasn’t as substantial as pre and during-covid levels in 2019-20, the jump was still described as a cause for concern.
“There’s a number of reasons for the increases in approaches, but significantly the cost-of-living crisis is resulting in increased approaches from families or individuals who may have lost their private or socially-rented accommodation,” said Tim Wendels, portfolio holder for homes and health.
“Of course, throughout the pandemic there was a stop on landlords getting possession, which is now over, so we are getting more approaches.
“Because of the work that’s been going on with the Homes for Ukraine scheme, there’s been more pressure on this team — we’ve also got the project management on the new build temporary accommodation at Seven Hills.
“So, without the additional staff requested, the team is really going to struggle to meet that service requirement.”
The housing options team is the council’s statutory homelessness service, which provides advice to anyone who considers themselves homeless or threatened with homelessness, with the aim to prevent the problem as much as possible.
Paul Peacock, Labour group leader, said he was fully supportive.
“This kind of work is incredibly emotionally stressful, dealing with people in desperate situations and a lot of the time officers don’t have the answers for those people because there aren’t answers,” he said.
“It’s welcome we are investing in that service and hopefully that will alleviate some of the stress of existing staff.”
Permission was given for a permanent housing options officer and a temporary 12-month contract for a housing assistant role.
It will be funded from the homeless prevention grant from the government’s Department for Levelling Up.