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Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029

Our vision

A city where everyone has a safe place to call home.

Local context

In Southampton, there are many households threatened with homelessness or experiencing homelessness.

  • Threatened with homelessness: 5.3 per 1000 households. This is similar to the national average (5.6 per 1000 households).
  • Homeless: 10.4 per 1000 households. This is significantly than the national average (6.1 per 1000 households).
  • Rough sleeping: In 2022, 27 people were sleeping rough on a single night in Southampton. This was three times higher than in 2021 (9 people). The average number of rough sleeping on a single night in Southampton between 2010 and 2022 was 20.

Our solution

Delivering our plan

Our new Homelessness Prevention Board brings together the key partners in the city. Together, we will deliver our plan to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in Southampton.

To achieve our goals listed below, we will develop a detailed action plan. We will update this every year to make sure we are on track.

Priority 1: Prevention

Help to reduce the risk of people becoming homeless.

What we want to achieve:

  1. A more integrated system to tackle homelessness.
  2. Help households who are at risk of homelessness at the earliest point possible.
  3. Clear ways for vulnerable groups to find a home.
  4. Become a better “corporate parent,” helping care leavers find and remain in a home. Local authorities are “corporate parents” which means they have a responsibility to the children and young people they look after.
  5. An end to cycles of homelessness through education and supporting people to stay in their homes.
  6. Use adaptability tools well to make sure people with physical needs can stay in their homes for longer if this is an option for them.

Priority 2 – Intervention

Intervene quickly to help people who are homeless and sleeping rough.

What we want to achieve:

  1. Quick interventions to help people who are threatened with homelessness. Use temporary accommodation when it is needed but try to find other housing options.
  2. An easy way for people to receive advice and information they need to help resolve homelessness.
  3. Supported accommodation that meets changing needs in the city.
  4. Solutions and choices for people to help resolve their homelessness.
  5. A workforce which uses sensitive, compassionate, and trauma-informed approaches when working with people who have experienced homelessness.

Priority 3 – Working Together

Combine skills, resources, and experience to tackle homelessness.

What we want to achieve:

  1. Strong partnerships which work together to tackle homelessness.
  2. Better peer support network and engagement with service users.
  3. A team which considers ways to stop people being evicted from their social homes and supports those who have been evicted.
  4. Better working across the council to reduce the number of service users who lose their homes because of complex needs.
  5. Better working within the council, sharing knowledge and experience, to find the best solutions for those experiencing (or threatened with) homelessness.
  6. Effective working between the Housing teams and Adult Social Care teams.

Priority 4 – Housing Solutions

Exploring new ways to diversify accommodation and support options.

What we want to achieve:

  1. Efficient use of our resources to tackle homelessness across the city.
  2. The most in need are prioritised for social housing.
  3. Improved housing options for people to move into after temporary accommodation. As a result, reduced spending on, and time spent in temporary accommodation.
  4. Improved relationships with Private Rented Sector (PRS) housing providers and landlords.
  5. New temporary and permanent accommodation options across the city.
  6. Appropriate housing options for people with complex needs.
  7. Better housing options for people who have pets and are experiencing homelessness or are threatened by it.

 Read the full Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.

Associated documents

Document Type Size
Draft Homelessness And Rough Sleeping Strategy Consultation Full Resultspdf789.0 KB
Considerations Of The Consultation Feedbackpdf240.1 KB
Equality and Safety Impact Assessmentpdf248.2 KB