MORE than 500 Thurrock households remain in temporary accommodation despite a sharp fall in numbers, as council bosses prepare to approve a new four-year plan to tackle homelessness.
Latest figures from Thurrock Council show 537 households are living in temporary accommodation, including 295 in nightly-let properties.
While the figure for temporary accommodation remains high, it has fallen significantly from a peak of 723 households to 579 in September.
The authority previously said temporary accommodation numbers had been increasing by an average of around 15 households a month for three years, before the trend reversed and numbers began falling at roughly the same rate.
Rob Willoughby, cabinet member for adults, health and housing services, credited a greater focus on preventing people from becoming homeless.
He said: “Thanks to a new approach that focuses on prevention, earlier intervention and supporting people before they reach crisis point, we now have fewer households in temporary accommodation and have considerably reduced our reliance on nightly lets.
“This has the dual benefit of not only being more cost-effective for council taxpayers but also, more importantly, helping more households find stability and independence.”
Cabinet members will be asked next Wednesday to approve the council’s Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Action Plan covering 2026 to 2030.
The strategy aims to intervene before households become homeless, reduce reliance on costly temporary accommodation, tackle rough sleeping and help more people secure settled homes.
Measures include housing advice, financial inclusion support and work to prevent evictions and repeat homelessness.
The council also wants to reduce its use of expensive nightly-paid and emergency accommodation while improving access to suitable housing for rough sleepers and people with complex needs.
Specific support is planned for groups including care leavers, prison leavers, domestic abuse survivors, refugees, veterans and people leaving hospital.
The authority has set a £995,000 savings target in its 2026/27 homelessness budget, which it expects to achieve through earlier intervention and reducing the use of costly temporary accommodation.
However, council papers warn homelessness continues to pose a financial risk, particularly where accommodation costs cannot be fully recovered through Housing Benefit.
Commissioners have backed the new action plan, with its progress set to be monitored throughout the four-year period and formally reviewed each year.
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