New strategy to address homelessness in the borough approved
A new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy has been approved by Wirral Council’s Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee.
The strategy for 2025 to 2030 shares a bold vision that “Where people experience homelessness in Wirral, it will be rare, brief, and unrepeated.”
This plan responds to growing pressures on homelessness services, with demand rising by 16% since 2020 and repeat homelessness at 14.4%.
According to national and regional projections, Wirral Council should prepare for growth in demand for its homelessness services (8% to 2041), especially for Temporary Accommodation.
However, the increase is not expected to occur evenly across all different types of homelessness and while rough sleeping is projected to remain fairly stable a rise is anticipated in all other elements of core homelessness (which includes rough sleeping, living in temporary accommodation like hostels or B&Bs, occupying unconventional spaces like sheds or cars, and sofa-surfing – usually staying with relatives or friends).
Chair of Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee, Cllr Mark Skillicorn, said:
This strategy is about delivering long-term change – preventing homelessness wherever possible, reducing our reliance on B&Bs, and ensuring that when people do need help, they receive it quickly and with dignity. Our commitment is to build a system that supports residents not just in moments of crisis, but in creating a stable future.
The strategy identifies key priorities, including:
- Early intervention and prevention to stop homelessness before it happens.
- Make it easier for people to access and use the homelessness service
- Reducing reliance on Bed & Breakfast accommodation and help people move on from this as quickly as possible.
- Expanding affordable housing - particularly one-bedroom homes - and continuing work to ensure people aren’t sleeping rough
The strategy also identifies the need to need to increase accommodation options for people who are homeless and also have care/health needs, and it sets out progress the service has made so far in tackling the issues faced in Wirral including:
- Introduction of innovative tools like AdviceAid (an online tool that can be accessed directly by individuals and provides up to date legal and local service information) to support early prevention of homelessness.
- Increases in self-contained temporary accommodation from 23 to 48 units, with a target of 68 by 2026.
- Healthy Homes scheme, funded by Public Health, which acts to prevent evictions through early intervention and landlord engagement (e.g., 80 prevented cases Jan 2024–Mar 2025). The team uses a combination of door knocking, self-referrals, and partner referrals to carry out assessments of housing, health and wellbeing needs, helping residents to access relevant services.
Despite these successes, significant challenges remain, including a shortage of affordable housing, continued reliance on B&Bs, the impact of domestic abuse, and increasingly complex mental health needs among those seeking support.
To deliver the strategy, Wirral Council will establish a new Homelessness Partnership Board, working closely with the Liverpool City Region Homelessness Task Force to shift the focus from crisis response to prevention.
Cllr Mark Skillicorn, added:
This strategy sets out a clear and determined vision for Wirral – that homelessness should be rare, brief and not repeated. We know the pressures on households are increasing, and demand for support has grown significantly in recent years. That is why this plan focuses on getting ahead of the crisis through early intervention, improving access to services, and expanding the range of safe, affordable housing options across the borough.
Wirral has already made important progress, from increasing self-contained temporary accommodation to introducing new digital tools that help people get support earlier. But we also know the challenges are becoming more complex, and we cannot tackle them alone. The establishment of a new Homelessness Partnership Board will strengthen the way we work with partners across health, social care, the voluntary sector and the wider Liverpool City Region.
The Wirral Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2030 was presented to members of the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee when they met at Wallasey town hall on Tuesday December 16.
Details of this committee agenda item are available here and the full Strategy document can be read here. View the webcast of the item being discussed by councillors here.
