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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Joseph Locker

Fears homelessness will get 'a lot worse' in Nottingham as people choose between heating or eating

There are fears the number of people resorting to sleeping on Nottingham's streets could get "a lot worse" as the costs of living continue to spiral.

Homelessness charity Framework had been making headway, alongside support from Nottingham City Council, Emmanuel House and additional support from the Government, in getting the numbers of rough sleepers down.

The latest official street count in Nottingham, conducted on February 11, found 15 people sleeping rough.

All 66 beds across emergency accommodation and night shelter options were and are still fully occupied, and there are currently 18 extra hotel places, through special short-term winter funding, which are also full.

In January the street count was an average of 12 people sleeping rough on any single night.

While this has dropped considerably compared to the highs of 55 people per night in 2019, concern has been raised over the sudden and soaring costs of living.

Framework's head of fundraising, Claire Eden, said: "It has been a challenging year for us all but particularly for people who find themselves sleeping rough, many for the first time. I’m concerned, as I’m sure many people are, that things are going to get a lot worse.

"Thousands, if not millions, of people are going to find themselves existing below the poverty line – forced to choose between eating and heating their home, using foodbanks for the first time, falling into arrears with utilities and rent.

"All of this leads to an increase in homelessness, in the numbers of people struggling with their mental health, and the number of people whose relationships cannot withstand this level of stress."

The number of rough sleepers found by Framework's street outreach team in Nottingham, between February 8, 2021 and the same date this year was 858 individuals.

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The charity emphasised that, while many people have been put up in emergency accommodation, they are still homeless.

Rough sleeping is only one, and the most visible, form of homelessness.

The figures come as various of tranches of funding have been confirmed for the city, including cash to create 'respite rooms' for women who may be sleeping rough and in need of safety and support.

Nottingham City Council has also accepted £100,500 from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on top of £137,110 capital from Homes England, to provide move-on accommodation to rough sleepers.

Framework Service Director Dave Smith, whose responsibilities include services for rough sleepers, added: "This is good news for rough sleepers in Nottingham following the city council's work with the government's Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to secure the funding.

"Much of the government's funding to tackle rough sleeping so far has been short term in nature or has required very demanding delivery timescales, including the first rounds of RSAP funds.

"We have however been able to respond to the urgency of the rough sleeping crisis and the challenges of the funding opportunity by purchasing existing units on the open market in order to meet the demanding government-set timescales.

"Framework is involved in delivering the government's Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP) not only in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire but also in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

"It is a long term programme to provide individual self-contained accommodation with intensive support for rough sleepers.

"In partnership with the relevant local authorities we developed 44 such units of accommodation in the last year and 24 of those units are in Nottingham, Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe. A similar total is planned for 2022."

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