Newport council paid more than £500,000 to temporarily house people at risk of homelessness in B&Bs

Nine B&Bs across the city were used to to provide accommodation for 105 households in 2018/19 – including six families with children.

The highest amount of money spent on securing the use of a single B&B for the year was £196,713.

With requests for homelessness assistance rising, and options for accommodation becoming scarcer, the Labour led council says it is under pressure to pay up.

But leader of the council’s Conservative opposition group, Cllr Matthew Evans, described the costs as “galling” after it was revealed only 15 out of 1,200 empty homes in Newport were brought back into use in 2017/18.

Cllr Matthew Evans, leader of Newport City Council's Conservative group

He said: “We are always being told that there is no money left in the pot and yet this seems to be licence to print money.

“These places must be laughing all the way to the bank.

“I appreciate there will be some occasions where we have little choice, but it is widely recognised as being unsuitable accommodation for those who find themselves in this unfortunate situation.

“Having just been told the council cannot even find some cash to replace a set of goalposts in my ward this makes me very angry.”

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Temporary accommodation – which includes hostels, leased and local housing association properties – is sought when other measures to help those at risk of homelessness prove insufficient.

A total of 1,814 households applied for assistance as being either homeless or at risk of homelessness in 2018/19.

Newport City Council says B&Bs are used for short periods of time and are typically for single people, with the ‘few’ families staying for a short time.

Newport City Council say it invests 'significant resources' into homelessness prevention

According to Stats Wales, the six families with children remained in B&Bs between April and December 2018.

A council spokeswoman said: “Newport City Council invests significant resources to support and alleviate homelessness within the city with a key emphasis being on preventing homelessness, where possible.

“Homelessness is an extremely complex issue and requires a multi-faceted approach involving a range of agencies and services working together.

“The council, and partners, have a well-established approach in this area and work extremely closely to deliver options and solutions for households at risk of homelessness.”

The spokeswoman continued: “The council continues to develop alternative and additional temporary accommodation provision and is seeking to secure more private sector accommodation to assist in managing the demand.

“But it must be stressed that the overall demand for social housing across Newport, and indeed the country as a whole, remains exceptionally high and requires significant and continued investment to address what can only be described as an overall housing pressure.”