Observer Column 11 October 2024

Last week the council started work on a new Housing Strategy for Hastings. We had a fantastic turnout for the first two consultations, which concerned the question, 'What do people want to see answered by a Hastings Housing Strategy?' People from all areas of the housing sector - campaigners, landlords, homelessness charities - attended, as well as those with lived experience of homelessness. As you can imagine, a wide range of views was expressed. The feedback ranged from 'How can we support private landlords who are providing good quality homes while taking swift action against criminal landlords?' to 'How can we bring more empty homes back into use?' You can read more about the process and how you can contribute your views and ideas by visiting our Housing Strategy webpage.

One of the most crucial questions raised was, 'How can we protect funding for homelessness services?' The topic is urgent because East Sussex County Council is even now consulting on major cuts to homelessness services to help fill the £55 million funding gap in next year's budget. The Floating Support Service, run by BHT Sussex (formerly Brighton Housing Trust) on behalf of the Council, is facing an 88% funding cut. Left with 12% of its already lean budget, the Floating Support Service would effectively be gutted. This critical service helps people in danger of becoming homeless to stay in their homes. Their efforts are not only humanitarian but also cost-saving. This year over 200 Hastings residents used the service. Hastings spends an average of £15,800 a year to provide a household with temporary accommodation - so, without a roof over their heads, not only would those 200 households have been in despair, they would also have cost taxpayers over £3m a year - a 50% increase over our current, already unsustainable, temporary accommodation spend.

Alongside this are the proposed cuts to supported accommodation. They would save ESCC around £240,000 but the potential cost of accommodating people if made homeless by losing this support could cost Hastings over £460,000 a year.

It's clear that local government finance has got dire when one council is forced to consider spending cuts that simply move the pressure onto borough and district councils. The cuts do not generally result in savings to the public purse; they do, however, remove support services from the most vulnerable families. Please do add your views to the consultation which runs until 28 November.

On a cheerier note I would like to thank Transition Town Hastings, Tidy up St Leonards, Burton St Leonards Society, Councillor Jo Walker, and over forty local residents for joining in the big St Leonards Gardens tidy-up session last Sunday, which included tackling overgrown areas of the garden. It looks much improved! Future sessions are planned.