Worthing Council asks for Extra Government Support to Ease Homeless Crisis

Worthing Borough Council now expects to spend around £5.36m of its £17.8m budget this year on temporary and emergency accommodation for Worthing families, couples and individuals because of the continuing housing crisis in the borough.

This is despite the council having saved money by building its own temporary accommodation and securing long-term deals with landlords for properties to prevent residents having to be put up in more costly and less suitable hotels and B&Bs.

The Council say its housing teams have also worked hard to reduce homelessness, by helping members of the community to resolve issues so that they can stay where they are living or move into somewhere else suitable.

Reports detailing the council’s current financial challenge and its work to set a budget for next year will be discussed by Adur & Worthing Councils’ joint strategic committee next week.

The sustained homelessness pressures the council is facing means Worthing is currently forecast to be £2.115m over budget this year.

In the first six months of this financial year alone, 335 local households came to the council seeking advice about homelessness because they were at risk of having nowhere to stay.

This is an increase on the 329 households who sought help about homelessness in the same period last year - which was itself a 26% increase on the 261 who needed help in the first six months of 2023/24.

This surge in local people needing support means the council has felt forced to approach the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to request further exceptional financial support to balance its books this year.

It has also advised MHCLG that unless Worthing benefits from a significant increase in financial support as part of the government’s fair funding review this year, it expects to need additional support in 2026/27 as well.

At the start of this financial year, Worthing had the second highest number of households in temporary accommodation in the county, but because of historic calculations it received an average of just £1,175 from the government per homeless household to support them. In comparison, the average across West Sussex was £4,917 per homeless household.

The joint strategic committee meeting will be held at The Shoreham Centre from 6.30pm on Tuesday 9th December and is open to the public. Residents are encouraged to come along, ask questions and share their thoughts.