At any one time, Scarborough has 40 families living in temporary accommodation like B&B's.
Now the council is to spend £11.6m to help tackle the problem by creating 90 new units of accommodation across the county and a purpose built "place of Change" in Scarborough.
Councillor Simon Myers is North Yorkshire Council's Executive Member for Housing, he says there are housing pressures across the country and the county, but says they are particularly prevalent in Scarborough.
The new multi-million pound project to tackle homelessness in North Yorkshire will have a focus on Scarborough.
North Yorkshire Council is going to create 90 living units across the county and a purpose built "place of change" in Scarborough to help alleviate some of the pressure.
Councillor Simon Myers says bed and breakfast accommodation is not the answer.
The scheme will see 30 units provided by registered providers and 60 will be bought and built by the council which could bring savings of £1.7m by 2027/28.
Councillor Gareth Dadd, member for finance, said:
“I want to emphasise the business case because every penny saved is more money that can be put into frontline services.
“We want to see this delivered – it’s not a cheap project and there are people out there who can benefit and it’s our duty to do this.”
A four-year deadline has been set for constructing and acquiring the properties, including a 20-unit “place of change” supported housing facility in Scarborough.
Leader of the authority, Councillor Carl Les said:
“I’d like to do a lot of it faster than the four-year deadline.”
Councillor Heather Phillips told the meeting she was
“looking forward to seeing it happen in the near future because housing is a major issue in Scarborough”.
She added:
“I’d like to see the soil broken on a brand new site very soon.”
Currently, the council has access to a ‘core offer’ of 169 units of temporary accommodation.
However, demand has outstripped supply in recent years and the number of homeless households placed in temporary accommodation has exceeded that availability.
It is reliant on B&Bs and hotel accommodation which are most utilised in Harrogate and Scarborough.
The cost of B&B accommodation is “significantly higher than all alternative forms of provision”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Councillor Myers said:
“Rough sleeping is a separate and discrete part of homelessness but many, many people face homelessness.
“We will start acquiring temporary accommodation as soon as possible and in a way, it’s quite easy to deliver but we have to make sure there is also a support service.
“The purpose-built place of change in Scarborough will require more thought regarding location and planning permission, but we are determined and very keen.
“This is needed now and we have to get on with it,”
The council has said it will use £7.4m from its reserves with £4m set to come from a mixture of a Homes England grant and capital and S106 receipts.
Councillors also said that following last year’s local government reorganisation it was “much better placed” to fund the project.
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