FOI request (FOIR-811716238)

Homelessness, Rent Arrears and Financial Support Data

Requested Fri 13 March 2026
Responded Wed 22 April 2026

I am writing to a selection of local authorities to gather comparable data. The questions are designed to draw on information that local authorities already hold through their statutory homelessness recording obligations and existing service records, and I have aimed to keep the scope as narrow as possible.

I am requesting the following information, relating to the financial year 2024–25 (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025):

Homelessness Presentations
1. How many households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 were assessed as owed a prevention or relief duty by your authority in financial year 2024–25?
2. Of the households above, how many cited each of the following as the main reason for loss of last settled home or threatened loss of last settled home? 
Main reason categories:
a) End of assured shorthold tenancy (AST) in the private rented sector
b) Harassment or illegal eviction from private rented sector
c) Family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate
d) Relationship breakdown with partner (non-violent)
e) Domestic abuse
f) Departure from custody
g) Departure from institution — including hospital discharge, looked-after child placement, or other institutional setting
h) Required to leave Home Office asylum support accommodation
i) Loss of social rented tenancy
j) Loss of supported housing placement
k) Mortgage repossession
l) Other reason
3. For households whose main reason was end of assured shorthold tenancy (category a above), how many were recorded as losing that tenancy due to rent arrears?
4. For households whose main reason for homelessness was loss of social rented tenancy (category i above), how many were recorded as losing that tenancy due to rent arrears?
5. Of the households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 assessed as owed a prevention or relief duty in 2024–25, how many had "care leaver" recorded as a support need for the main applicant or a household member?
6. Of the households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 assessed as owed a prevention or relief duty in 2024–25, how many had "financial difficulties" recorded as a support need for the main applicant or a household member?

Temporary Accommodation
7. How many households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 were in temporary accommodation provided by your authority as of 31 March 2025?
8. Of those households, how many had been in temporary accommodation for more than 12 months as of 31 March 2025?

Financial Support
9. How many Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) were awarded by your authority in 2024–25?
10. How many referrals to debt advice or money guidance services were made by your housing or homelessness team in 2024–25? 

Policy and Practice Questions
11. At what stage in the homelessness assessment process does your authority first offer or refer an applicant to money advice, debt support or financial capability services? Please select the most accurate description:
- At or before initial contact / triage
- During the prevention duty stage
- During the relief duty stage
- Only after the main housing duty has been accepted
- Not systematically offered, depends on the individual case
12. Does your authority have a dedicated financial inclusion, money advice or financial capability service embedded within, or formally linked to, your housing or homelessness team? (Yes / No / Signposting only to external services)
13. Does your authority provide or commission financial education or money management support specifically for care leavers as part of their statutory leaving-care package? If yes, please briefly describe the provision (for example: one-to-one money coaching, group sessions, online resources, referral to an external provider).
14. Has your authority recorded or tracked whether financial literacy or debt knowledge gaps were a contributing factor in homelessness presentations? (Yes / No / Not systematically)
15. Does your authority record whether a benefit delay, sanction or Universal Credit migration issue was a contributing factor in a homelessness presentation? If yes, please provide available figures for 2024–25.

If any part of this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, I would be grateful if you could respond to as many questions as possible within the limit, and advise me which questions you were unable to answer.

Where data is not held in the precise format requested, I would welcome any available approximation or the closest comparable figure you are able to provide.

If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if necessary.

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Response

1. How many households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 were assessed as owed a prevention or relief duty by your authority in financial year 2024–25?

Answer: 307

2. Of the households above, how many cited each of the following as the main reason for loss of last settled home or threatened loss of last settled home? Main reason categories:

a) End of assured shorthold tenancy (AST) in the private rented sector

Answer: 83 b)

Harassment or illegal eviction from private rented sector

Answer: 14

c) Family or friends no longer willing or able to accommodate

Answer: 84

d) Relationship breakdown with partner (non-violent)

Answer: 25

e) Domestic abuse

Answer: victim = 36, perpetrator = 2

f) Departure from custody

Answer: 1

g) Departure from institution — including hospital discharge, looked-after child placement, or other institutional setting

Answer: 1

h) Required to leave Home Office asylum support accommodation

Answer: 3

i) Loss of social rented tenancy

Answer: 5

j) Loss of supported housing placement

Answer: 7

k) Mortgage repossession

Answer: 0

l) Other reason

Answer: 46, of which end of private rented tenancy – not assured shorthold tenancy = 17, fire or flood/other emergency = 1, home no longer suitable due to disability / ill health = 11, left HM forces = 1, loss of tied accommodation = 1, property disrepair = 9, unsuccessful placement or exclusion from resettlement scheme/sponsorship = 2, voluntarily left accommodation to relocate = 4 3.

For households whose main reason was end of assured shorthold tenancy (category a above), how many were recorded as losing that tenancy due to rent arrears?

Answer: 59

4. For households whose main reason for homelessness was loss of social rented tenancy (category i above), how many were recorded as losing that tenancy due to rent arrears?

Answer: 15

5. Of the households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 assessed as owed a prevention or relief duty in 2024–25, how many had "care leaver" recorded as a support need for the main applicant or a household member?

Answer: 11

6. Of the households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 assessed as owed a prevention or relief duty in 2024–25, how many had "financial difficulties" recorded as a support need for the main applicant or a household member?

Answer: Difficulties budgeting = 19 Temporary Accommodation

7. How many households with a lead applicant aged 18–40 were in temporary accommodation provided by your authority as of 31 March 2025?

Answer: 378 households

8. Of those households, how many had been in temporary accommodation for more than 12 months as of 31 March 2025?

Answer: 191 households Financial Support

9. How many Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) were awarded by your authority in 2024–25?

Answer: 319

10. How many referrals to debt advice or money guidance services were made by your housing or homelessness team in 2024–25?

Answer: 

NOTICE OF REFUSAL

 

The information requested would require us to manually check each customer record, this would far exceed the time limit set out by the Information Commissioner therefore under S12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000 provides an exemption from the obligation to comply with a request for information if the estimated costs of complying with that request would exceed the prescribed appropriate limit.

 

We estimate that the costs of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit by a significant amount.

 

For this reason we feel unable to comply with this part of your request.

11. At what stage in the homelessness assessment process does your authority first offer or refer an applicant to money advice, debt support or financial capability services? Please select the most accurate description: - At or before initial contact / triage - During the prevention duty stage - During the relief duty stage - Only after the main housing duty has been accepted - Not systematically offered, depends on the individual case

Answer: At initial contact / triage + during the prevention duty stage. See also Q10 above.

12. Does your authority have a dedicated financial inclusion, money advice or financial capability service embedded within, or formally linked to, your housing or homelessness team? (Yes / No / Signposting only to external services)

Answer: We signpost to Citizen Advice or HAARC

13. Does your authority provide or commission financial education or money management support specifically for care leavers as part of their statutory leaving-care package? If yes, please briefly describe the provision (for example: one-to-one money coaching, group sessions, online resources, referral to an external provider).

Answer: Care leavers are dealt with by East Sussex County Council.

14. Has your authority recorded or tracked whether financial literacy or debt knowledge gaps were a contributing factor in homelessness presentations? (Yes / No / Not systematically)

Answer: Case by case, referrals are made to Citizen Advice and HAARC.

15. Does your authority record whether a benefit delay, sanction or Universal Credit migration issue was a contributing factor in a homelessness presentation? If yes, please provide available figures for 2024–25.

Answer: Due to volume of cases unable to manually check this. However, if Reason for loss of Assured Shorthold Tenancy is due to rent arrears, then we would check to see if its 'rent arrears following changes in benefit entitlement' x 1 households or 'rent arrears due to tenant difficulty budgeting or tenant making other payments or due to shortfall between benefit and rent' x 9 households, if end of Social rented tenancy, then we would check 'rent arrears due to tenant difficulty budgeting or tenant making other payments or due to shortfall between benefit and rent' x 4 households.