Trafford Council winning the battle against homelessness

A Councillor has spoken of his pride after Trafford Council revealed it is starting to win the war against homelessness in the borough.

Cllr James Wright, the Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration, spoke after a report revealed the Council’s Homelessness Strategy was proving to be a huge success.

The five-year strategy, which was launched in 2019, has helped hundreds of families from becoming homeless and has taken rough sleepers off the streets of Trafford.

The major achievements of the Council’s Homelessness Strategy so far include:

• 444 households prevented from becoming homeless in 2019/20
• Securing permanent accommodation for 21 long-term rough sleepers
• Providing housing advice to 34,485 households in 2019/20
• The Housing Options Service Trafford (HOST) team visited 2,360 households in 2019/20

The strategy sets out the Council’s priorities for Trafford over the next five years. They are: To prevent homelessness in Trafford; increase the supply of social housing and good quality temporary accommodation, work towards ending rough sleeping; improve access to employment, education and training for homeless people in Trafford and to improve their health and wellbeing.

Cllr Wright said:

“I cannot imagine how awful it must be to be without a permanent home for you and your family – it is the ultimate nightmare. That is why Trafford Council is doing everything it can to win the battle against homelessness in the borough.

When we launched the Homelessness Strategy last year we aimed to take people off the streets and to prevent families from becoming homeless. I am delighted to say that we are doing just that and that the strategy appears to be a huge success – saving 444 households from becoming homeless and securing permanent accommodation for 21 rough sleepers is no mean feat.

I am proud of our achievements to date and can promise that we will continue to work hard to eradicate homelessness in our borough.”

The Council’s achievements were outlined in a report which reviews the strategy and provides an annual update on the issue of homelessness in the borough.