HOMELESS people who were rehomed by councils in Dorset during the coronavirus pandemic will be helped to stay in accommodation this year thanks to £2.5million of government funding.

All councils were ordered in March by the Government to rehome any rough sleepers they knew of. Dorset Council rehomed people in three Weymouth hotels: The Riviera, Mon Ami and Richmoor.

To help find places for them to stay in the future, Dorset Council has successfully secured a grant of £624,000 as part of the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme. This comes after the authority worked on a bid alongside Public Health Dorset, Dorset HealthCare, and homelessness support charities including Julian House, Lantern Trust, Bus Shelter and Shelter, Probation Services, Registered Housing Providers and REACH drug and alcohol support services. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council received £1,884,766 from the programme.

Councillor Graham Carr-Jones, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Dorset Council said: “Since well before Covid-19 we have been wrestling with the dilemma of insufficient property, and how we can keep people out of B&Bs and get them into settled accommodation.

“Although we are still awaiting formal notice of how the money is to be spent, it will help us create accommodation to provide much-needed affordable housing for single people, who by and large, make up the majority of homeless households in the county. As the repercussions of Covid-19 continue, more people are finding themselves in financial difficulty and are presenting to Dorset Council as homeless.The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority. Wherever possible, we try to house residents in a community where they have local connections. Currently this isn’t always possible.”