Minister Eddie Hughes visited our supported housing accommodation in Coventry

Minister for Housing and Rough Sleeping Eddie Hughes visited our supported housing accommodation in Coventry yesterday (Tuesday 12 April).

Throughout his visit the Minister was given a tour of the Gateway, Coventry’s primary homeless residence, which provides 79 flats for single homeless people in the city – 16 of these flats were recently built following a successful bid for funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Minister was also shown Citizen’s and Coventry City Council’s newest supported housing facility, Frank Walsh House, which provides 44 flats for families with support needs who are homeless in the city. The facility was also used to accommodate 44 rough sleepers throughout the coronavirus pandemic as part of the Government’s Everyone In campaign.

Minister for Housing and Rough Sleeping, Eddie Hughes said: “One person sleeping rough on our streets is one too many, and I’m delighted to be able to visit Gateway in Coventry which provides supported housing for those at risk of homelessness.

“Through our Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, we have funded 16 of their flats. These are more than just homes, helping people affected by drug and alcohol addiction, mental health problems and family breakdowns by giving them access to training and other support to help rebuild their lives.

“This Government wants to end rough sleeping for good, and through innovative programmes like this we’re on track to ensure no one is forced to spend a night on the streets.”

Our Chief Operating Officer Mads Nelson said: “It’s been fantastic showing the Minister around our two housing schemes in Coventry today.

“We’re committed to working with Coventry City Council to help combat homelessness across the city. Our Gateway scheme has provided new homes for single people who were homeless or threatened with homelessness and has helped reduce the reliance on bed and breakfast accommodation.

“We’ve secured over £2million from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Community to help us develop our homeless offer at Citizen. This includes securing 25 homes across the West Midlands for homeless single people and an extra 16 homes at the Gateway. We are very grateful for their support. I hope the Minister enjoyed meeting customers benefiting from our new accommodation today.”

Coventry City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Commissioning and Partnerships Lead Sophie Hall added: “It’s great to be back at both Gateway and Frank Walsh House today.

“We’re proud to have invested £280,000 to enable the conversion work to happen at Frank Walsh House, working closely with Citizen.

“We also commission the support to help make sure Citizen’s customers maintain their tenancies at both Gateway and Frank Walsh House.

“We believe this support and both schemes are vital to address homelessness throughout the city.”

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