MORE than 100 people who qualified for help with homelessness last year in West Berkshire were in full-time work, figures reveal.

A review into homelessness and rough sleeping showed that of the 572 people who qualified for help between April last year and March this year, 109 were in full-time work and 74 were in part-time work.

More people were in full-time work than any other employment category, including registered unemployed.

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Separately, a third of those who qualified for help had dependent children, including 135 single mothers, according to a recent review by West Berkshire Council of housing need and homelessness.

A lack of cheap housing, housing benefit being lower than private rents, the bedroom tax and benefits cap were all given as challenges for those who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. 

The review, conducted by external consultants Ridgeway Associates, comes ahead of the council’s new strategy for reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. The strategy will last until 2025 and will likely be voted through by the executive on December 19.

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The review looked at how many people were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, what sort of people they were and what problems they faced. 

It reported that insufficient housing benefit was a ‘major challenge’, as it is ‘significantly below market rents for all property sizes’. 

Caps to benefits were another problem, impacting 56 households in West Berkshire on March 31 this year. The review stated: “The benefit cap does not take into account size of family, meaning an increased risk of homelessness for families with three or more children.” 

The bedroom tax, also surveyed on March 31, meant 416 households in the district making claims had their housing benefits reduced by 14 per cent, and 65 had their benefits reduced by 25 per cent. “The accommodation shortage in the district can leave few options for these people to find suitable alternative accommodation.”

The bedroom tax was introduced in 2013, and cuts housing benefit for those living in social housing with ‘spare’ rooms. The benefit cap, also introduced in 2013, limits the amount of benefits a household can claim to £20,000 each year.

Two Saints, which provides accommodation for homeless people in West Berkshire, also featured in the review. Two Saints is a 59-room hostel, and also has 16 rooms for move-on accommodation, and five rooms of supported accommodation.

Some of the problems there included that people who leave the hostel ‘because they cannot cope in the environment within the buildings’, like those with mental health and addiction problems, do not receive extra priority on the social housing waiting list. 

Also, some people are reportedly reluctant to stay at Two Saints, because of the perceived drug use there. And some private landlords are reluctant to offer people tenancies if they have previously stayed at Two Saints. 

West Berkshire Council’s new homelessness strategy focuses on improving prevention and early intervention, increasing housing options, and returning empty homes back into use.