More than £400,000 will be given to homelessness charities and services by North Herts Council, it has been confirmed.

The council agreed on how to spend a portion of ringfenced funding from the government at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (11 February).

Over three years from 2025/26 onwards, Survivors Against Domestic Abuse – a Hertfordshire-based service providing specialist support – will receive more than £150,000.

During the same period, almost £86,000 will be given to North Herts Citizens Advice Bureau to help increase the capacity of its housing advice service, which, according to council officers, has seen a "growing number" of people come to it for support.

There will also be £142,000 in support for One YMCA's Outreach Service for rough sleepers between 2025/26 and 2027/28, as well as £22,000 for Herts Young Homeless' education project, which runs sessions in local schools with the aim of preventing youth homelessness.

Cllr Dave Winstanley, who is responsible for housing, said: "Demand for the council's housing services remains high, with the need to secure additional services.

"The proposed funding allocations will enhance homelessness prevention, support and relief efforts, ensuring vital services remain available to the most vulnerable residents in North Hertfordshire."

The council has a legal duty to help households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

To help it carry out those duties, the council will receive a grant of £986,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for 2025/26.

It previously received a grant of £746,000 from the MHCLG to cover both 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Further grants have 'topped up' that figure, leaving the council with an additional £92,000 to allocate for the 2024/25 financial year.

Councillors agreed to spend at least £72,000 of that covering the council's current overspend on temporary accommodation, mainly hotels that are used as a "last resort" when meeting the authority's legal duties.

The remaining money will be managed by the benefits team, who "consider additional payments for those claiming housing benefit who are experiencing housing difficulties".

In 2023/24, the council helped 471 homeless households and 331 more were helped during the first three quarters of 2024/25.

At the end of 2024, there were 108 North Herts households staying in temporary accommodation.