Nights in emergency B&B fell 83% in three years, Fareham's draft homelessness plan says. Lost private tenancies cause up to half of cases. Comment by 29 October.
Fareham Borough Council says it has cut the number of nights it pays for homeless households to stay in bed and breakfast and other emergency rooms by 83% in three years. The figure is in its draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy for 2026 to 2031, which is open for comment until 29 October.
Every council must review homelessness in its area and publish a strategy under the Homelessness Act 2002. The draft strategy sets out the council’s own figures for the borough. The council announced the consultation on 17 September.
Emergency accommodation: what fell
The strategy compares the council’s use of nightly paid emergency accommodation between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2026. It reports these falls per year across all placements:
- new placements down 51%
- open placements down 55%
- nights accommodated down 83%
- average length of stay down 62%
- spending on emergency accommodation down 87%
For families only, placements fell 53%, nights accommodated 67% and the average stay 31%.
The council publishes the percentages but not the counts behind them. So the strategy does not say how many households were in B&B at the start or the end of the period.
Who is asking for help, and why
Between September 2024 and March 2026, the council’s Housing Options service received about 80 to 100 homelessness approaches a month. That excludes housing register and general housing enquiries.
The strategy gives ranges rather than exact shares:
| What the strategy reports | Share of cases |
|---|---|
| Loss of a private rented home, the main cause | 40% to 50% |
| Family or friends no longer able to house someone | 20% to 30% |
| Single-person households | 60% to 70% |
| Families | 25% to 35% |
| Cases closed through lost contact or withdrawal | 25% to 35% |
The council says losing a private tenancy hits harder in Fareham than elsewhere because the private rented sector is small. Census figures in the strategy put it at 12.6% of households in 2021, against 78.5% owning their home outright or with a mortgage. When a tenancy ends, there are fewer other lets to move into.
Applications from 18 to 25 year olds have risen. People aged 25 to 34 make up about a quarter of all presentations.
Rough sleeping
The annual rough sleeping figure for 2025/26 was four people. The council describes rough sleeping in the borough as “transient and periodic” rather than an entrenched street population. It saw seasonal rises in January and February 2026 and again in July.
Rents and prices
The strategy says average private rents are “around £1,200 per month and rising” and that average house prices exceed £320,000.
The official figures are close but show rents rising slowly. The ONS Price Index of Private Rents put Fareham’s average rent at £1,176 a month in August 2026, up 0.9% on a year earlier. Across the South East the average was £1,426, up 3.0%. The ONS index covers existing tenancies as well as new lets, so it runs below portal asking rents.
The Land Registry put the borough’s average house price at £333,599 in July, as we reported earlier this month.
What the council plans to do
The strategy sets three priorities:
- Earlier intervention, including keeping its private rented sector officer, rent deposit and rent-in-advance schemes, and more mediation for young people and families.
- Preventing rough sleeping and repeat homelessness, through its outreach service and what it calls a Rough Sleeper Pathway.
- Sustainable housing, including a review of temporary accommodation and a new assessment of how much supported housing the borough will need.
It also warns that supported accommodation across Hampshire is limited, and that funding changes from 2026 are expected to add pressure. A detailed action plan is promised, to be reviewed every year.
What it means for you
- If you are worried about losing your home, the strategy’s own message is to approach the council early, before a crisis. Housing Options is reached through the council’s customer enquiries line on 01329 236100.
- To have your say, fill in the short online survey by 29 October. The consultation page explains what can and cannot be changed. Paper copies are available from consultation@fareham.gov.uk.
- Council tenants have a separate consultation open on the draft Housing Tenancy Policy, which runs until 30 October.
More on local housing costs: Fareham house prices and Fareham council tax bands.
Sources
- Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2026-2031, consultation version, Fareham Borough Council.
- Have your say on Fareham’s Draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, Fareham Borough Council press release, 17 September 2026.
- Let’s Talk Fareham: Draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, consultation page, 17 September to 29 October 2026.
- Price Index of Private Rents, 16 September 2026 release, Office for National Statistics, Table 1, August 2026 rows for Fareham and the South East.
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