Brighton & Hove has won £6.4m over two years to spend earlier on adult social care and homelessness, with 2,300 households in temporary accommodation.

Brighton & Hove City Council has been awarded a £6.4 million government grant to change how it runs adult social care and homelessness services, two of the biggest pressures on its budget. The money comes from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and covers two years, until 2027/28 (Brighton & Hove City Council, 16 September 2026).

The scale of the two services explains why they were chosen. By the council’s own figures, around 2,300 households in the city are living in temporary accommodation, and 5,358 people receive at least one adult social care service.

The council’s bid was unusually frank about the problem it is trying to escape. It highlighted “the ongoing financial risk of an historic focus by local government on reactive, crisis-led support and the potential for councils to become locked into high-cost, low-impact responses”.

What the money is for

According to the council, the grant will fund:

  • innovation in managing demand for adult social care
  • transformation of homelessness and temporary accommodation services
  • digital and technological improvements across both areas
  • a shift towards prevention and early intervention
  • reduced use of temporary accommodation, including placements outside the city

Councillor Jacob Taylor, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance and city regeneration, said: “This funding is incredibly welcome and will allow us to expand the outstanding work already being done by our teams in this area.

“We know that the cost of temporary accommodation and supporting people experiencing homelessness is high and that, together with wider sustained increased demand on adult social care, this can have a huge impact on the council’s finances.

“That is why this funding is so important.”

He added: “This is about us being able to spend differently, earlier, and more effectively. It will also enable us to deliver earlier, more impactful support and interventions which will prevent residents from reaching crisis point.”

The budget backdrop

The grant lands in a hard year. At its meeting on 17 September, the council’s Cabinet noted a potential forecast overspend risk of £20.852 million on the General Fund for 2026/27, with a further £16.949 million of risks listed separately, in the month 4 budget monitoring report (Cabinet decision list, 17 September 2026). Social care and temporary accommodation are recurring drivers of overspends in councils across the country, which is exactly the pattern the grant is meant to break.

Temporary accommodation numbers in the city reached record levels this year; we set out the figures and what counts as temporary accommodation in our report on the city’s record numbers. Separate government money already funds rough sleeping services locally, covered in our report on the city’s rough sleeping funding.

What it means for you

  • No service changes have been announced yet. The release describes what the money will target, not specific schemes. The council has given no implementation dates beyond the grant running to 2027/28.
  • If you are homeless or at risk of losing your home, nothing about how you get help changes today. The council’s housing options service remains the route, and the earlier you contact it the more it can do.
  • If you or someone you care for uses adult social care, the stated aim is earlier support rather than less support. We will report the detail when the council publishes how the money is allocated.
  • For the wider picture of what the council spends and charges, see our guide to Brighton council tax bands.

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