Bridgend Council has published how they intend to use £7.83million in Housing Support Grant funding from the Welsh Government (pdf).
The Housing Support Grant is used to prevent homelessness and find accommodation for people who are already homeless.
The £7.83million grant in this financial year is a 32% increase from the previous year.
The number of people involved is pretty stark. At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the council provided temporary accommodation to 74 households. As of February 2022, this had increased to 197 households (+166%). The vast majority (74%) of those being helped in February 2022 were single-person households.
The funding plan – listed in full at the end of the report, but not explained very well – proposes (amongst other things):
- 59 temporary support accommodation units for young people.
- 58 permanent supported accommodation units for people with learning disabilities.
- 27 rapid rehousing units.
- 18 women’s refuge spaces.
- 16 temporary supported accommodation units for people with mental health problems.
- 10 units for rough sleeper outreach services.
