Homeless Londoners will be helped back on the path to independent living by a new scheme to allow some of the capital’s most vulnerable residents to find a stable, affordable home.
Mayor Sadiq Khan is investing £15 million in the scheme, which will buy around 330 properties to let out to individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
As well as offering homes at genuinely affordable rents, the scheme, run by homelessness charity St Mungo’s and Resonance Limited and backed by City Hall and boroughs, will support tenants to move into training and employment.
The scheme builds on the success of two similar projects already being run by Resonance and St Mungo's.
All three funds have housed approximately 1,300 people to date, with data from the longest-running fund showing 100 per cent of tenants sustained their tenancy for more than six months, and 44 per cent are now in employment.
“The scale of homelessness in our capital is shocking and we are doing everything we can to tackle it,” Sadiq said.
“By providing opportunities for homeless Londoners to leave temporary emergency accommodation, we can help them move on with their lives in an affordable, stable home of their own,” he said.
The Mayor also announced that the second round of grants worth £200,000 from his Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund are now available to bid for, aimed at small-scale, innovative projects that pilot original ideas and develop new services.
With more than 8,000 people seen sleeping rough in London last year, Sadiq is investing £9 million a year into services to tackle tackling rough sleeping.
In December, he brought together 18 charities tackling homelessness into one coalition to launch “No one needs to sleep rough in London” - a campaign which has since raised over £94,000, with the money being split equally between these charities.