Further support for homeless households in West Suffolk

20 Jul 2026

New council accommodation will support West Suffolk residents who become homeless as well as veterans, care leavers and people fleeing domestic abuse.

West Suffolk Council has completed the refurbishment of its latest temporary accommodation.

The 10 units of temporary accommodation in Haverhill were bought earlier this year for just under £550,000. It takes the total number of units across West Suffolk available to the council up to 64.

Each unit is designed to meet the needs of one household whether that’s accommodation for a family or a room for a single person.

The exact locations of the properties are not being made public by the council as the people that will be housed in them will be vulnerable.

Cllr Richard O’Driscoll, Cabinet Member for Housing at West Suffolk Council visited the properties recently, ahead of the completed refurbishment.

“This is about supporting our residents at their time of greatest need."

“The threat and thought of becoming homeless fills most people with dread. Our emphasis continues to be wherever possible on prevention to help people avoid this pain and heartache. We successfully stopped 225 households from becoming homeless in 2025/26 and we’re reaching out to landlords so that we can try to intervene and prevent even more."

“But prevention is not always possible and that is where our investment in temporary accommodation continues to be so vital."

“We provide a lifeline to households across West Suffolk who have become homeless, working with them and supporting them in temporary accommodation, until they are ready to move into a home of their own."

“We also recognise it is important to support UK veterans, care leavers and people fleeing domestic abuse from other parts of the country and our temporary accommodation is also used to help them out of homelessness."

“I am pleased to see this latest temporary accommodation completed ready for use and we are continuing to invest to meet local needs.”

The latest temporary accommodation will further help to reduce the council’s reliance on emergency bed and breakfast accommodation which is often less appropriate for the needs of families and individuals and cost more to the taxpayer.

It is also in line with the council’s Housing, Homelessness Reduction and Rough Sleeping Strategy adopted in late 2024, which set out the need for more temporary accommodation in West Suffolk.

 

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