‘Huge group effort’ helps find new accommodation for homeless residents

Bridgend County Borough Council has thanked partner organisations for the speed and quality of their response to an urgent call to help the local authority find alternative accommodation for 39 homeless people.

The issue arose following a breakdown in contractual negotiations with two local hotels on the extension of arrangements that have been in place for the last two years, and which were originally set up to ensure that homeless people could access safe, secure accommodation during the pandemic.

As a result, the council had less than five days to find alternative accommodation for 39 individuals.

Councillor Rhys Goode, the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations who is also responsible for housing, said: “Despite the very short notice, there was a massive response to our call for support, and I want to thank the council’s Housing team and everyone who has contributed towards this huge group effort.

“This includes our third sector partners, Pobl and The Wallich, who supported people directly while providing accommodation units within our housing projects, the private sector landlords who responded to our requests for accommodation so quickly, and the registered social landlords who understood the urgency with which the nominations for social housing had to be processed.

“I also want to thank the residents themselves for their patience and co-operation during what must have been a very anxious and worrying time.

“A number of hotels and bed-and-breakfasts worked alongside us to provide accommodation for homeless people and key workers during the coronavirus outbreak, but this was only ever intended to be a temporary measure - one which had the additional benefit of providing owners with guaranteed income and helping prevent them from going under during the pandemic.

“Our long-term aim has always been firmly focused upon helping the homeless to find suitable housing, and the council and its partners have supported more than 5,000 homelessness applications since the start of the pandemic.”

The council is currently in the process of advising the 39 residents about the arrangements for accessing their new accommodation.