"One person without a roof over their head is one too many. Since being the MP for Hastings and Rye, I have campaigned to ministers for more funding for the prevention of homelessness and rough sleeping, and my efforts have resulted in millions of pounds of funding for Hastings BC over the past four years to tackle this. I have called on Hastings Borough Council to develop a housing strategy which meets local need - more affordable homes to rent and buy. To help Hastings BC with the costs of temporary accommodation I successfully campaigned for the Local Housing Rate to be increased. This increase of 6.7% brings the LHA to 30% of local market rents, reducing the strain on local authorities and helping to prevent homelessness and evictions.
I also set up the East Sussex Homelessness Prevention Forum with the help of Homeless Link which collaborates to prevent homelessness, enhance awareness, and facilitate access to essential services. Once it was set up, I took a step backwards as I knew that if a Conservative MP was seen to drive this, it would not get the buy in from a number of organisations and had to be non-political.
There is much more to do, and I hope that this response has assured you that the Government is committed to working towards a future without homelessness.
Yours sincerely,
Sally-Ann Hart MP."