Temporary Accommodation Strategy and Policy

Consultation has concluded

What is the Temporary Accommodation Strategy?

Sheffield City Council has drafted a new Temporary Accommodation Strategy, and we want to hear your views on it. Your feedback will be used to develop the final Strategy. The strategy explains our plan for providing Temporary Accommodation for the next 5 years.

Sheffield is a vibrant city with a growing and diverse population. Housing plays a crucial role in the city's success, serving as the foundation of our health, happiness, and prosperity. However, like other cities Sheffield is experiencing very high demand for housing, including affordable homes and not everyone has access to a safe, secure home which increases the risk of homelessness.

Sheffield City Council is required to give advice to anyone who is facing homelessness, and we have a legal duty to provide Temporary Accommodation to those that are eligible, homeless, and in priority need.

This Strategy sets out how we plan to

  • reduce the number of households placed in emergency Temporary Accommodation.
  • make sure the accommodation that is provided is suitable and cost effective for both the customer and the Council.
  • end the reliance of using Bed and Breakfast (B&Bs) and other nightly paid accommodation,
  • improve case and property management, and increase housing options and support services.

Placing people in B&Bs and other short-term accommodation is expected to cause a £6.6m pressure on the Council’s budget in 2024/25. We must follow the Government’s statutory guidance which says families should not be in a B&B for more than 42 days. Because we do not have enough Temporary Accommodation sometimes families have to stay longer than this. B&Bs lack essential facilities, such as kitchens and laundry, and aren't suitable for family life, with no play areas for children and little privacy. This unstable environment harms children's mental health, education, and development. It is therefore essential that we end the use of B&Bs.

So that we can do this quickly, we are planning to use more of our own Council Housing in the next 2 years. We currently use about 450 of our properties for Temporary Accommodation. This would only be a temporary increase so we have time to do more to prevent homelessness and provide suitable accommodation in the longer term. This will mean about 200 fewer properties would be available for permanent rehousing in total. We let about 2700 homes every year.

The draft Temporary Accommodation Policy outlines how Sheffield City Council will allocate and manage temporary accommodation, including procurement and placements, both within and outside the area of Sheffield.

The Policy will help deliver the goals of the draft Temporary Accommodation Strategy 2025-2030 and the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-2028.

What is the Temporary Accommodation Strategy?

Sheffield City Council has drafted a new Temporary Accommodation Strategy, and we want to hear your views on it. Your feedback will be used to develop the final Strategy. The strategy explains our plan for providing Temporary Accommodation for the next 5 years.

Sheffield is a vibrant city with a growing and diverse population. Housing plays a crucial role in the city's success, serving as the foundation of our health, happiness, and prosperity. However, like other cities Sheffield is experiencing very high demand for housing, including affordable homes and not everyone has access to a safe, secure home which increases the risk of homelessness.

Sheffield City Council is required to give advice to anyone who is facing homelessness, and we have a legal duty to provide Temporary Accommodation to those that are eligible, homeless, and in priority need.

This Strategy sets out how we plan to

  • reduce the number of households placed in emergency Temporary Accommodation.
  • make sure the accommodation that is provided is suitable and cost effective for both the customer and the Council.
  • end the reliance of using Bed and Breakfast (B&Bs) and other nightly paid accommodation,
  • improve case and property management, and increase housing options and support services.

Placing people in B&Bs and other short-term accommodation is expected to cause a £6.6m pressure on the Council’s budget in 2024/25. We must follow the Government’s statutory guidance which says families should not be in a B&B for more than 42 days. Because we do not have enough Temporary Accommodation sometimes families have to stay longer than this. B&Bs lack essential facilities, such as kitchens and laundry, and aren't suitable for family life, with no play areas for children and little privacy. This unstable environment harms children's mental health, education, and development. It is therefore essential that we end the use of B&Bs.

So that we can do this quickly, we are planning to use more of our own Council Housing in the next 2 years. We currently use about 450 of our properties for Temporary Accommodation. This would only be a temporary increase so we have time to do more to prevent homelessness and provide suitable accommodation in the longer term. This will mean about 200 fewer properties would be available for permanent rehousing in total. We let about 2700 homes every year.

The draft Temporary Accommodation Policy outlines how Sheffield City Council will allocate and manage temporary accommodation, including procurement and placements, both within and outside the area of Sheffield.

The Policy will help deliver the goals of the draft Temporary Accommodation Strategy 2025-2030 and the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-2028.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Draft Temporary Accommodation Strategy 2025-2030 Survey

    About the survey

     The purpose of this survey is to gather feedback from people who have lived in Temporary Accommodation (TA) in Sheffield, Sheffield residents, and partner organisations. Your input will help shape the Council’s Temporary Accommodation Strategy.

     Because we want to make sure we improve the service that is provided we especially want to hear from people who have stayed in Temporary Accommodation. Their views will be given additional weight in our decision-making on the final Strategy.

    The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Please answer as many questions as possible or leave them blank if they are not relevant to you.

     Why Are We Asking These Questions?

    Sheffield faces significant challenges in providing suitable Temporary Accommodation:

    • There are currently around 700 households in Temporary Accommodation at any time and this includes 300 in B&Bs.
    • The demand for Temporary Accommodation is rising, but there is a shortage of suitable and affordable options.
    • Using more Council homes for Temporary Accommodation would help in the short term but could reduce the number of permanent homes available for rehousing.

     Our strategy aims to improve the quality, availability, and management of Temporary Accommodation. This means making difficult decisions, balancing competing priorities, and ensuring we meet legal requirements. We want to hear your views to help us make the best choices for Sheffield.

    The consultation will run from 24/03/2025- 14/04/2025

     

    What happens to my feedback? 

     We do not ask for any personally identifiable information such as your name or contact details, so your feedback will be anonymous. However, we do ask for information about specific characteristics that people may have such as ethnicity or disability. This helps us compare different views and experiences from different groups of people.  

     We will analyse all the feedback carefully, in line with the 2018 Data Protection Act and GDPR legislation 2018 that sets out how information can be used and is kept safe.   

     Once the consultation is completed and the feedback has been analysed, all personal data collected will be deleted. 

     More information about how we collect personal data and store it can be found here: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/utilities/footer-links/privacy-notice


    Want to know more? 

     For more information about the survey please contact the Strategic Housing Team via email at housingstrategy@sheffield.gov.uk

     Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.  

    Consultation has concluded
  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Draft Temporary Accommodation Policy Survey

    About the Survey

     The purpose of the survey is to gather views and comments from households and partners on the Temporary Accommodation Policy before it is finalised.

     We are only consulting on specific aspects of the Policy, as many elements are determined by legal and regulatory requirements that cannot be changed. We are not seeking feedback on areas where the Council has made decisions based on resource availability or where there is no scope for influence due to statutory obligations. Additionally, we are not consulting on provisions that are already in place and are simply being incorporated into the Policy for clarity and consistency.

     We will be asking questions about the following areas of the Policy. These are the parts of the service that the Council has control over and can make decisions on and they are not legal requirements that we must follow by law, but areas where we have some flexibility and can shape how we deliver temporary accommodation in Sheffield.
     Types of Temporary Accommodation 

    1. Assessing Suitability of Accommodation
    2. Accommodation Offers and Allocation
    3. Temporary Accommodation Terms of Stay
    4. Ending of Temporary Accommodation
    5. Out of Area Placements

     Alongside the views provided to us as part of this consultation we will be considering the results of our recent soft market testing on the availability of different types of accommodation.

     The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Answer as many questions as possible or leave them blank if they are not applicable to you. 

    The Consultation will run from 24th March – 14 April 

     

    What happens to my feedback? 

     We do not ask for any personally identifiable information such as your name or contact details, so your feedback will be anonymous. However, we do ask for information about specific characteristics that people may have such as ethnicity or disability. This helps us compare what different groups of people, with different views and experiences, might think.  

     We will analyse all the feedback carefully, in line with the 2018 Data Protection Act and GDPR legislation 2018 that sets out how information can be used and is kept safe.  

     Once the consultation is completed and the feedback has been analysed, all personal data collected will be deleted. 

     More information about how we collect personal data and store it can be found here: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/utilities/footer-links/privacy-notice

     

    Want to know more? 

     For more information about the survey please contact the Strategic Housing Team via email at housingstrategy@sheffield.gov.uk

     Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.  

    Consultation has concluded