§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what initiatives his Department has taken over the last six months to reduce the number of homeless people.
§ Sir George Young[holding answer 6 November 1991]: On 5 June I announced that selected housing associations would be invited to bid for grants to run pilot schemes as managing agents for private owners, to encourage landlords to let their empty properties to homeless people. The first homes made available through this initiative were let in October. Also in October I announced a new scheme to bring empty flats over shops back into use. Local authorities will shortly be invited to bid for a share of the £25 million to be made available. Accommodation created through this initiative will help to relieve homelessness pressures in many hard-pressed urban areas.
Under the Department's new initiative with the Council of Mortgage Lenders, announced on 5 November, repossessed properties will be passed to housing associations for temporary letting to homeless families nominated by local authorities. This will bring empty properties back into use, provide homes for families, restore confidence in the market and help mortgage lenders.
These initiatives are additional to our £300 million homelessness allocation to local authorities and housing associations in London and the south-east, which will provide 16,000 permanent homes for homeless families. Work is also progressing on the Department's £96 million initiative to combat rough sleeping in central London. A total of 489 additional hostel places, 530 places in housing leased from private owners and 250 places in permanent housing have been made available this year for rough sleepers. By the end of 1993–94, the total of additional permanent housing generated by this initiative will reach 1,800 places.