More than 30 per cent of Worthing’s entire annual budget is now expected to be spent on housing people who would otherwise be homeless.
Worthing Borough Council says the bill for temporary and emergency accommodation is forecast to hit around £5.36 million this year, out of a total budget of £17.8 million.
The council says it has reduced costs by building its own temporary housing and striking long-term deals with landlords, but the ongoing housing crisis means demand continues to rise.
Reports detailing the council’s current financial challenge and its work to set a budget for next year will be discussed by Adur & Worthing Councils’ joint strategic committee this week.
They will set out how as a council for the community, Worthing has changed the way it works over recent years to ensure it can continue to provide the services the community needs. However the sustained homelessness pressures the council is facing means Worthing is currently forecast to be £2.115m over budget this year.
In the first six months of this financial year alone, 335 local households came to the council seeking advice about homelessness because they were at risk of having nowhere to stay.
This is an increase on the 329 households who sought help about homelessness in the same period last year - which was itself a 26% increase on the 261 who needed help in the first six months of 2023/24.
In addition, other agencies are continuing to place vulnerable people with specific needs in the area, due to the comparatively lower property prices and the availability of large, suitable buildings in Worthing. Each of these vulnerable people needs support to be able to live independently but because government funding does not cover the full cost of this, the council is left to meet the shortfall.
This surge in local people needing support means the council has felt forced to approach the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to request further exceptional financial support to balance its books this year.
It has also advised MHCLG that unless Worthing benefits from a significant increase in financial support as part of the government’s fair funding review this year, it expects to need additional support in 2026/27 as well.
At the start of this financial year, Worthing had the second highest number of households in temporary accommodation in the county, but because of historic calculations it received an average of just £1,175 from the government per homeless household to support them. In comparison, the average across West Sussex was £4,917 per homeless household.
The joint strategic committee meeting will be held at The Shoreham Centre from 6.30pm on Tuesday 9th December and is open to the public. Residents are encouraged to come along, ask questions and share their thoughts.
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