Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) are set to received almost £1.5million from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The local authority based in Surry will use the money to invest in temporary accommodation to help families facing homelessness. Overall, the council is due to purchase six homes – five will be used as temporary accommodation and one as an Afghan resettlement home.
Following the approval of the funding, EEBC will receive the first payment in January 2025. After this, three instalments will be provided spread over two years.
On the subject of money, the new scheme will cost the taxpayer £35,000 a year for the maintenance of the properties, but this is a decrease on the £115,000 the council was spending on equivalent accommodation.
However, the decision to buy six new homes wasn’t always the plan. EEBC initially wanted to spend the money on its recently approved temporary housing pods, though this was refused by the government according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Hannah Dalton, a member of EEBC, told the strategy and resources committee: ‘They turned us down because they want us to invest in bricks and mortar.’
Despite the U-turn in plans, documents from the local authority state the latest programme will help reduce local housing pressures – an incredibly necessary target. In the second quarter of 2024 figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were 827 repossession actions in Surrey – a 22% increase compared to the second quarter of 2023.
The document says the council have welcomed the new initiative because it provides sustainable housing for Afghan citizens so they can ‘build new lives in the UK, find employment and integrate into communities.’
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