Greater Manchester launches new Housing First Unit

Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, and the city-region’s ten council leaders have announced the launch of a new Housing First Unit to address the housing crisis locally.

The unit will tackle the roots of the housing crisis in the city-region, including through increasing housing supply, improving standards of both socially-rented and privately-rented homes, and supporting residents against homelessness.

Greater Manchester has already proposed delivering 75,000 new homes in the current parliament, as well as the creation of the Good Landlord Charter to begin acting on housing issues facing city-region residents.

Creation of the Housing First Unit comes along newly published research commissioned by the city-region that has found Greater Manchester councils are spending an estimated £74.6 million each year on renting temporary accommodation for an all-time high of 5,649 households, including over 7,500 children, with demand for social housing outstripping supply by 260%.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:

“The £75m our councils are spending on these rents is just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t include the cost of finding that housing, let alone the human toll of living in such an insecure situation.

“Our reliance on temporary accommodation has left thousands of families in a limbo that is blighting their life chances and damaging their health and wellbeing. Living in a hostel or B&B makes it harder to cook healthy meals, do homework, hold down a job, see friends and family or visit a doctor when you need to.

“Our Housing First Unit will work to make sure that everyone in Greater Manchester has a home that is safe, secure and sustainable. Giving everyone a good, safe home would be one of the best investments the country could make and would take pressure off other public services and public finances.”

The Mayor and Greater Manchester’s ten council leaders also approved a plan to work together to deliver better quality and better value temporary accommodation. GMCA will explore new ways of coordinating, delivering and preventing the need for temporary accommodation. It will also draw lessons from current best practice across the city-region, such as Manchester City Council, which has been able to buck the national trend, reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation and all but eradicating the use of Bed and Breakfasts.

GMCA Portfolio Lead for Housing First, City Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett, said:

“Through regional collaboration and with the support of central Government, we can work to deliver Greater Manchester’s vision of Housing First and collectively work to mitigate the worst effects of the housing crisis.

“By taking a collaborative, co-ordinated and evidence-based approach, we hope to realise economies of scale and deliver temporary accommodation that is better value for money, while reducing the need for temporary accommodation by significantly increasing & accelerating the supply of Truly Affordable Net Zero homes.

“A good home is the cornerstone of a healthy, happy life for our residents. By working together, we can improve the standard of temporary accommodation and make sure they are consistent across Greater Manchester.”