Four people died in temporary accommodation in Hackney in the past year

The issue was raised at this week’s Living in Hackney scrutiny commission, during which assistant director of benefits and homelessness prevention, Jennifer Wynter, told councillors that there are 579 individuals living in temporary accommodation in Hackney.

People living in temporary accommodation are often homeless, with complex mental and physical health needs, and sometimes drug and alcohol dependency.

Last June, 75% of those living in temporary accommodation  were assessed as in need of supported accommodation.

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In supported accommodation (SA), care workers provide assistance to residents tailored to their individual needs, as opposed to temporary accommodation (TA), which Wynter described as “sadly, a one-size-fits-all approach”.

“We don’t have provision for anybody in TA, regardless of their protected characteristics,” she explained.

Wynter said she was “very concerned” about this figure, because “we know that temporary accommodation is not a suitable environment for them and will not help them recover”.

When asked about the future development of SA premises, Wynter informed council that they are “not looking at anything being available until 2028/29… which doesn’t stop people dying in temporary accommodation when they’d be better off in supported accommodation”.

“What we have is an extremely small pathway primarily delivered by one support provider and only three sites,” continued Wynter.

“The council and key partners must act now to address the crisis in supported accommodation so that people get the help that they need and are treated with dignity,” Green party co-leader Zoe Garbett told the LDRS.

“This has been prioritised in other boroughs and not in Hackney, there is clearly an issue and action must be taken.”

Wynter explained during the meeting that previously, SA has been focused on non-homeless individuals with multiple complex needs such as the elderly, as opposed to the homeless.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Guy Nicholson added: “To put it quite explicitly… supported accommodation has not been well understood, nor has it been a concept that’s been applied through Hackney’s housing strategy work to date.”

Nicholson said that the council’s previous strategic housing needs assessment did not look into SA but explained that the work is now being done in “quite a granular fashion”.

He informed councillors that the “ambition is to produce a supported accommodation strategy for Hackney” by the autumn.