City unable to keep pace with housing need - report

One of the UK's fastest-growing cities needs more affordable homes to tackle homelessness, according to a report.

Peterborough City Council said it was unable to keep pace with demand for housing support and has published a strategy aimed at halving long-term rough sleeping by 2029.

In Peterborough, nearly 9.2 people per 1,000 are homeless, compared with 7.5 across England.

"We want to ensure that homelessness is tackled in a way that truly works," the report said.

"That means helping people find safe, appropriate accommodation and providing the right support so they can maintain and retain their homes over the long term."

High population growth has contributed to higher levels of deprivation in the city, where nearly 3,000 households are on a waiting list for social housing.

The council said its current supply of new affordable homes and vacancies in its existing properties was not enough to meet demand.

The report pointed to other factors that pushed people into homelessness.

These included mental health, substance abuse, domestic abuse, contact with the criminal justice system, neurodiversity and experiences in childhood.

"Anyone can become homeless - it can happen to anyone regardless of background, and we must make sure people are listened to without judgement," the report said.

Last year, the council received 3,611 approaches from individuals or family groups who were homeless or threatened with homelessness.

It predicts that figure will rise to 3,631 this year and 3,640 in 2027.

It said legislation introduced in May, giving extra protection to tenants, could impact these figures.

Being asked to leave by family was the most common reason for people seeking support in Peterborough, followed by fleeing domestic abuse.

The new strategy aimed to prevent homelessness "wherever possible" at an early stage, for example by improving awareness of support on offer.

Another idea was to introduce a "trusted person" for individuals seeking homelessness support due to domestic abuse, so they would not need to repeat their story multiple times.

"Survivors of domestic abuse have also told us of the high number of different appointments they are sometimes expected to attend at various locations," the report said.

It said a trusted person could help make sure appointments were kept so cases could be processed more quickly.

The report will be considered by the council's prevention, independence and resilience scrutiny committee on Thursday.

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