Plymouth Community Homes has helped 213 local homeless families to find a permanent home over the past six months in time for Christmas – an increase of 12% on the same period in 2023.
According to Plymouth City Council, there are 981 households with an open homelessness case in Plymouth. This includes people living in temporary accommodation as well as staying with friends and family or living on the streets.
Homelessness is a growing problem in our city, and as the city’s largest social housing landlord – and a non-profit organisation with social responsibility embedded in its strategic plan – Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) is committed to addressing this critical issue in partnership with Plymouth City Council and PATH (Plymouth Access to Housing).
As the cost-of-living crisis impacts, a growing number of individuals and families are being accommodated by the council in short-term temporary accommodation, including B&Bs, and can often find it difficult to move on because they are not prioritised through standard choice-based lettings systems to obtain social tenancies, and they cannot find, or afford, private accommodation.
PCH offers social rents which are at least 50% lower than the cost of renting a similar property on the private market.
By working alongside partner organisations, PCH is trying to support more individuals into a permanent home, a particularly poignant thought at this time of year.
PCH manages 16,000 homes within the city, as well as across the surrounding areas and of the 446 homes the organisation has let in the past six months, 48% have been let to people who had a homelessness duty with Plymouth City Council including many people living in temporary accommodation.
This was achieved in part by prioritising flagged applications through Devon Home Choice as part of a drive to help reduce the number of homeless people on the housing register in partnership with PCC.
One of the new PCH residents is Shannon, 22, who lives with her daughter Elisha, who turns one in January. They’ve been living in their new 2-bedroom PCH flat in West Park for just over a month.
Shannon was registered as homeless before finding her PCH home, and had spent the first few months with her newborn baby sofa surfing at the homes of friends and family.
She said: “It was so hard in the early days, I was moving from one place to another and sleeping on the sofa with Elisha in a travel cot beside me, having to take my pram everywhere with me. I would spend evenings crying and feeling guilty that I couldn’t give my daughter somewhere stable to live, it was causing me major health issues and anxiety attacks.
“Since we’ve been here, it has been completely different, I was worried about Elisha’s development but now we have somewhere to call our own, she’s absolutely thriving, and I’ve never seen her happier. We’re looking forward to celebrating Christmas just the two of us, and then her birthday is in January, so we’ve managed to find a home just at the perfect time.”
Richard, 35 and his 4-year-old son also found themselves with a PCH home, moving into a 2-bedroom home in Plymstock just in time for Christmas after a long time searching.
He said: “We’ve been really lucky after nearly two years in temporary accommodation, and we’re now in a great location just a stone’s throw from the water. My son has additional needs, and I was unable to provide him with meals that he would eat in the past due to the lack of a cooker and basic amenities. Now we’ve got somewhere permanent that we can call our own, I can look after him much better and he’s happier.
“We’ve had help with getting a washing machine and mattresses which has been so helpful, as it’s just before Christmas when I’ve had to buy Christmas presents and didn’t have those things down on my list to buy – it all happened so quickly but now we can spend Christmas at home together.”
Georgia Spinks, Housing Choices Manager for PCH, said: “Homelessness is something that needs to be addressed as no-one should be without a secure roof over their head. Having a permanent home has well-established links with health benefits, so helping people into a home from temporary accommodation is something that helps not just the individual, but the city in the long-term.
“We work with several local charities and organisations across the city to help find homes for people who are registered as homeless and we’re leading on some new initiatives alongside strategic partners such as PCC and Livewell to help in the fight against Homelessness.
“These include a workstream with PCC to review and identify permanent accommodation for families and individuals who have been in temporary accommodation and to remove any barriers to gaining a permanent home."
