Council backs £260k funding for homeless support scheme
A scheme which helps some of Rotherham’s most entrenched rough sleepers rebuild their lives has been given the green light to continue, with extra funding and a new delivery model.
Councillors have approved plans to recommission the borough’s Housing First service for up to five years, securing long-term support for people facing homelessness alongside complex needs such as mental ill-health, substance misuse and repeated tenancy breakdowns.
The decision was signed off at a cabinet meeting on December 15.
Housing First works by offering people a permanent home, alongside intensive, flexible support, rather than requiring them to prove they are “tenancy ready” before being housed.
Councillor Linda Beresford, cabinet member for housing, told the meeting: “This is the real key to delivering sustainable change. It’s about supporting people away from homelessness, and it is reserved for the most complex and the most disengaged, people, where we deliver intensive support…. source suitable accommodation, and look at helping people to keep in their homes, so we don’t get the yo yo effect of people getting a home, not being able to maintain it and going back into homelessness.”
Since launching in Rotherham in 2018, the service has supported up to 35 people at a time. Council data shows three-quarters of current users are now considered stable or moving towards stability, with a reduced risk of returning to homelessness.
A report to cabinet said the approach had also cut demand on emergency services, including police, A&E and mental health crisis teams.
Under the approved plans, the council will re-procure the service with a higher budget to make it more sustainable and bring it closer in line with national Housing First principles. That includes separating the landlord role from the support provider, something officers say will help prevent tenancy breakdowns and strengthen trust between service users and key workers.
The annual budget for the service will rise by around £31,000, from £229,000 to about £261,000. Officers said the uplift was needed to reflect rising costs and attract providers capable of sourcing suitable homes, rather than relying on existing housing stock.
Council officers warned that scrapping the scheme would likely push people with complex needs back into temporary accommodation or emergency provision, putting further strain on already stretched homelessness services.
The tender process is expected to begin in January, with the new contract due to start in June 2026.