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Homelessness costing local authorities millions

Getty Images A vacancies sign in a bed and breakfast window.Getty Images
In 12 months councils in Surrey spent over £6m housing families at risk of homelessness

Providing emergency help to people at risk of becoming homeless cost council tax payers in Surrey over £6m in the last financial year.

Councils have a legal duty to help people at risk of homelessness, with many authorities resorting to using hotel rooms.

Epsom Borough Council alone spent £1,665,493 on nightly emergency accommodation in the 12 months to April.

The authority has launched an appeal to find private landlords willing to help ease the situation.

BBC Radio Surrey contacted all the county's local authorities to ask how much each had spent on nightly emergency accommodation in the financial year 2023/24, and received the following replies:

  • Spelthorne - £2,195,269
  • Epsom and Ewell - £1,665.493
  • Woking - £1,292,332
  • Elmbridge - £621,000
  • Guildford - £283,228
  • Waverley - £147,743
  • Runnymede - £160,115

Across England the annual cost is estimated to be more than £1bn.

Getty Images Epsom town centre on a sunny day.Getty Images
A campaign has been launched to persuade more private landlords in Epsom to come forward

Epsom and Ewell had budgeted for 70 families needing emergency accommodation in the financial year but, with the figure reaching more than 90 in the first five months, it meant an overspend of £395,000, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The authority is looking for landlords of three, four and five-bedroom houses to sign up to its private sector leasing scheme.

In September landlords were invited to a council-run forum to encourage them to take on tenants from the authority's at-risk register.

Officers said there was “nothing concrete yet” from the landlords.

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