A new plan to help homeless people and reduce rough sleeping across County Durham has been welcomed. 

Durham County Council cabinet members voted to approve its five-year homelessness initiative. 

The strategy comes after temporary accommodation usage increased by 170 per cent across the county since 2018/19, resulting in increased financial pressures. 

Such pressures have increased the need for the local authority to supply council-owned social housing and commissioned temporary accommodation rather than relying on hotels, holiday lets, and B&Bs. 

The new strategy focuses on the four priorities -  prevention, intervention, support, and reduction. 

Adopting the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy will also enable the delivery of the Government’s Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP), which will help provide 32 units in council-owned accommodation to support rough sleepers with complex needs and people at risk of rough sleeping.

Figures show 126 people were found to be rough sleeping in County Durham - an average of 11 in a single night - during 2022-23. Forty two per cent of these were new to rough sleeping and the remaining had previous experience on the streets. Across the North East, there was a 27 per cent rise in rough sleeping in 2022-23.

"Homelessness can lead individuals and their families and friends into a cycle that can have a profound effect on all aspects of life,” said councillor Susan McDonnell.

The cabinet member for procurement added: “The impact of homelessness devastates lives and is often a long journey for an individual to try and build their lives up again. 

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“The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy provides a clear and strategic direction and vision for how we can address homelessness and rough sleeping across the county.”

An initial council priority to ‘end rough sleeping for good’ was changed to ‘reduce rough sleeping’ as it was felt the original priority was overly ambitious, the council said. 

A homelessness strategy steering group will be established in the coming months and will take responsibility for the development and implementation of the strategy. It also intends to build stronger partnerships with people in the community.