Homelessness centre gets green light

Manchester City Council has granted permission to transform a former residential care home in Chorlton into a homelessness prevention centre.

The Longford Centre, which has 38 beds, will be available to provide emergency temporary accommodation to prevent people from becoming homeless and to provide support services to help them move on to independent accommodation and employment.

The centre will open in January 2018 and will be one of around 50 different housing and accommodation offers for homeless people in Manchester, with each providing support to different people and meeting different needs.

The centre has been created to help single people and childless couples who are new to homelessness and have low to medium support needs. It is intended to supplement to range of existing accommodation and support services already available.

It will only be for people who are referred by council homelessness services and other organisations working with homeless people.

Bernard Priest, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We have consulted with local residents and listened to what they have said. The majority are concerned about the homelessness situation in the city and supportive of our efforts to find solutions to prevent people falling into a cycle of homelessness.

"This centre is just one part of our ongoing response to the challenge of homelessness and one of the ways in which we can act quickly to help people when they first fall into difficulty. It will provide people with a safe and secure environment and with access to a range of support services to prevent them from ending up on the streets and help them get back on track and move forward in their lives.

"Preventing people from becoming homeless is is every bit as important as helping people off the streets and we believe this centre will make a real difference to people's lives.”