Last week, the Rural Services Network was delighted to be invited to a roundtable discussion with the Minister for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Felicity Buchan MP following the release of research into the rural homelessness crisis.

The roundtable discussion enabled experts in rural homelessness to share their perspective with the Minister on some of the particular challenges in dealing with rural homelessness and some of the solutions that may help.

The discussion called for some key changes such as a commitment to end homelessness and ensuring that future strategies are rural proofed.

Kerry Booth, the Chief Executive from the RSN attended the event and shared some of the impacts of unfair funding on rural councils and their ability to support the most vulnerable in our communities. 

She said:

“Urban authorities receive 38% more in Government Funded Spending Power per head compared to rural councils and this enables them to spend more on discretionary services like libraries, public transport and youth services which can all be used to help people stay in employment longer, or find employment to be able to help them to access affordable housing.  More importantly they increase the council’s ability to support people when they are at their most vulnerable.”

The research

The countryside is battling a ‘hidden homelessness’ crisis driven by soaring housing costs and a gaping shortfall in local authority funding, according to the research.

The true scale of the crisis is likely to be far higher than the official statistics. The year-long study, which included a survey of 157 frontline support workers, service providers, NGOs, and shelters, found an overwhelming majority thought rural homelessness was a serious problem that was getting worse. Key findings include:

• 91% of respondents in rural areas have seen homelessness increase in the past five years;
• 83% of respondents in rural areas said their job had become harder in the past five years;
• 81% of respondents believe that rough sleeping is experienced differently in rural areas compared to urban areas.

The study, by academics at the University of Kent and the University of Southampton, on behalf of a coalition of rural charities, rural organisations (including the RSN) and housing associations, shows rural areas being paid a fraction of what they need to tackle homelessness in their communities.

Overall, rural local authorities are receiving 65% less in funding per capita through the Homelessness Prevention Grant than urban areas, who are themselves chronically underfunded.  The sharp discrepancy in financial aid, discovered in statistics released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, shows urban local authorities were paid £7.15, compared to just £2.50 paid to rural local authorities when calculated on a like-for-like basis.

More information and a link to the research report can be found here