The funding will be split between three initiatives which will see the council working with dedicated partners to provide 22 units of specialist services for 22 – 26-year-olds who are not ready to live independently; young women with mental ill health and additional needs; and LGBTQ+ young people.
To deliver this ambition, the council has published a report seeking approval to award contracts to three organisations who have extensive experience in delivering accommodation-based support services
Working with trusted partners
The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) will provide support to 6 LGBTQ+ young people aged 18-25 within a building owned by Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH). The AKT will also provide training so that partnership providers can provide specialist support to LGBTQ+ young people.
Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) will provide supported accommodation to young women aged 18 – 25 with mental health and additional needs and especially those who are vulnerable to exploitation. MTVH deliver seventeen 24-hour staffed mental health supported accommodation schemes, including a service within the Routes to Independence Pathway for 9 males with mental ill health and additional needs.
8 units will be within a building owned by Peabody Trust where young people aged 22 – 26 will receive 24-hour support from Peabody.
When the government funding was released, Lambeth undertook a strategic analysis to identify the gaps in existing pathways for young people aged 18-25 at risk of rough sleeping.
Sophie Konradsen, Lambeth’s Lead Commissioner, Routes to Independence Pathway and semi-independent living said:
“Our analysis revealed a lack of specialist provision for LGBTQ+ young people, and a reluctance from LGBTQ+ people to access frontline council and commissioned supported housing services due to discrimination. “
Ms Konradsen also referred to the “lack of appropriate single gender provision for young women” who require specialist support particularly for “trauma related to men.”
“This funding will enable us to bring forward plans to support young people in Lambeth who may otherwise be at risk of rough sleeping.”
The Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) was launched in January 2023 following the publication of the cross-government ‘Ending rough sleeping for good’ strategy in September 2022, which committed to increasing the supply of good quality, specialist supported accommodation and housing-led approaches. The funding is targeted to enable local authorities and their partners to support both adults with long histories of rough sleeping, and young people aged 18-25 who are at risk of rough sleeping, by providing long-term accommodation and support. It includes a total of £200 million of both capital funding to create new housing and revenue funding to provide support for 3 years.
