Southend landlords are to be handed £2,000 grants to house a homeless family for a year under radical plans revealed today.
The move forms part of a blueprint to end reliance on bed and breakfast accommodation like the Palace Hotel on Pier Hill, Southend.
Southend had 38 families in B&B accommodation on March 31.
The Government has awarded Southend £183,000 over the next year to get families out of bed and breakfasts and into permanent accommodation. Southend's Tory cabinet is also set to plough £400,000 into a new initiative in which tenants are paid a grant to move into accommodation and buy the property.
Twenty homes could be made available from the council's housing stock to support the plan.
Initiatives include:
The one-off £2,000 payment to private landlords to guarantee a property to a homeless family for a year
Paying the rent in advance for a homeless person to move into the private sector
Working closely with Swan Housing Association which will rent a property in Southend and then sub-let to a homeless family nominated by the council, avoiding the use of bed and breakfast
Published Friday, May 16, 2003
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