The figures are being fuelled by inflation, more people in need of emergency housing, the burgeoning cost of social services – for children and adults – and rising demand for home to school transport.
The bleak picture was spelt out by the Labour deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Jacob Taylor, in a meeting at Hove Town Hall.
He told the council’s cabinet that the forecast shortfall next year – the 2026-27 financial year – took into account an expected increase in income totalling almost £17 million.
Councillor Taylor said that inflation was expected to add almost £10 million to the council’s costs while temporary housing was forecast to add about £12 million.
The extra cost of adult social care was predicted to be about £9 million, children’s social care £4.7 million and home to school transport £1.2 million.
The outlook in the current financial year is also posing challenges, with a potential overspend of £15.5 million on the cards. The forecast at the same stage of the past financial year was about £10 million.
A report to the council’s cabinet said that pay awards were coming in higher than the budget assumptions because of persistent inflation while budget savings targets were harder to hit.
The report also said that economic conditions were affecting “external provider costs” as well as recruitment costs while reducing many sources of income – and these were all proving had to predict accurately.
A case in point was the actual cost of temporary housing compared with the budget. The council block books about 400 places a night and spot books almost 200 more.
Spot booking tends to be more expensive but the need is running at a much higher rate than expected. This year alone, the spot-booking overspend is on track to top £5 million.
Councillor Taylor said: “(The) numbers of people presenting as having housing difficulty and seeking help from the council are rising.
“And the unit costs have also been rising at the back end of the last financial year and into this year which means we have a significant forecast overspend in that area.
“This translates into the pressure we then see next year. It’s a somewhat gloomy position but we have to grasp this and start working on it.
“Of course, we’re already working on it in the background with officers to try to work on these difficult pressures that we’re seeing.
“Why do we have such pressures on temporary accommodation? Because we have a colossal and scandalous housing crisis in the country and particularly in this city – one of the great political and economic failings of the last – probably – 100 years.
“We are a rich country, the fifth or the sixth richest country in the world, and we have a scandalous, ludicrous, disgusting position where we have hundreds of thousands of families in temporary accommodation.
“They are homeless – a ludicrous position for us to have got ourselves in because of failed housing policy over the last 15 years.”
He said that the government had announced an increase in funding for affordable houses – £39 billion over 10 years – with an emphasis on social housing.
This marked a significant change, he added. Councils were now building again and buying back former council homes.
Labour councillor Gill Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing and new homes, said that the situation was gloomy but the council’s eyes were “looking up not down”.
She said: “We are facing massive problems and we can’t deny it. Last week we placed 33 people in temporary accommodation – 50 per cent more than our weekly average.
“This is what we’re dealing with. This is crisis level. We’re not wasting money here. We’re keeping people off the streets and they’re just pouring into us.
“Just dealing with it is a massive pressure but, hopefully, looking into the future, the future is not gloomy. It is bright because we have these opportunities for regeneration.”
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