Accommodation refurbishment to combat homelessness

Date: 22 December 2006

A Yateley-based accommodation facility for homeless people has been upgraded with £600,000-worth of investment.

The Heathlands Project has 22 homes providing temporary housing for families or single people who find themselves without accommodation in Hart District.

The Heathlands development on Cricket Hill Lane, leased and managed by Sentinel Housing Association, is just one weapon in the armoury of the Hart Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) to combat homelessness in the area.

The Partnership has five themed groups, of which one is focused on housing. Sentinel Housing Association, Hart District Council, the local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Thames Valley Housing Association, Annington Homes and Emmaus Projects*, form the housing-themed group.

Although not on a scale experienced by major cities, homelessness is an issue in Hart with the District Council’s housing service seeing hundreds of people each year.

Commenting on Heathlands’ refurbishment, Hart Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Susan Band said:

“It is extremely timely to be talking about the plight of homelessness and our efforts to deal with it, given that this months marks for fortieth anniversary of the BBC’s screening of Ken Loach’s television film, Cathy Come Home.

“The play vividly explored the plight of the homeless in 1960s. We’ve moved on a great deal from those days, but homelessness is still a problem – even in Hart. That’s why it’s so important that all groups concerned with alleviating homelessness work together to prevent it where ever possible.”

Editor’s notes

*The Emmaus Projects is a charity that works to empower homeless people, and those facing adversity, achieve their full potential. Please see The Emmasus Projects website