Fears more people could become homeless in Sheffield in aftermath of pandemic

Sheffield Council has already seen a significant increase in people needing temporary accommodation and a higher use of hotels and B&Bs since the first lockdown.

Housing officer Suzanne Allen warns the council cannot go “back to business” after Covid as there would be economic and social impacts.

She told a scrutiny meeting: “There’s been an increase in domestic abuse and there may well be an increase in evictions from private rented properties once that temporary ban on evictions has been relaxed.

“Rough sleeping is the worst manifestation. We don’t want people to reach that point, we want to prevent it earlier on.

“My concern is that, as there’s more and more demand for services, we become more reactive rather than proactive and we can’t deliver on the prevention in the way that we want to

“The other thing I’m concerned about is the impact of the pandemic and the associated issues on people who are the most vulnerable.

“We’re very strongly committed to working together but I’m fearful there is a risk that we become overwhelmed because of the volume of need.”

Council officer Zoe Young said Sheffield had a good reputation for helping homeless people.

“Other authorities only work with people that are in priority need as the law states. In Sheffield, we try and help everybody that comes to us, anybody who’s rough sleeping, they don’t have to be a priority. If they’re out there on the streets, we really want to help them.

“That’s something that other local authorities, particularly London authorities, are not doing as they only work with people in priority need.

“I worked for Shelter in the past and we used to send people to Sheffield from other cities as we knew they would get some help. That reputation feels good.”

The council expects the number of homeless cases to be 600 at the end of 2020/21 compared to 484 at the end of 2019/20.

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