A HOMELESSNESS charity is looking for a new premises to run a service providing urgent accommodation.
St Mungo’s, which works with Brighton and Hove City Council, needs a new base for its No Second Night Service (NSNO) in the city.
NSNO has been operating from a property in St Catherine’s Terrace in Hove since October 2021.
It provides urgent accommodation for people who have been sleeping rough and helps them as they move off the streets and start their recovery from homelessness.
Repair works needed on the building, which is owned by a private landlord, mean that a new home is now being sought.
St Mungo’s regional head Rahul Sen said: “We regularly undertake evaluations and inspections of the properties we use as part of our routine maintenance programme and our most recent inspection of this building highlighted some concerns so we – in consultation with the council - have decided to leave the building while more extensive inspections can be undertaken and the scale of the work needed can be further assessed.”
So far the majority of the residents have been given alternative accommodation, and it is hoped that the remaining clients will be accommodated elsewhere over the coming few days.
Rahul added: “NSNO is invaluable in helping people get on the path to recovery from homelessness.
“It provides rapid assessment, reconnection and move-on services for people sleeping rough the first time in one place, so we are keen to find alternative premises that we can operate from.
“We will continue to support all our clients going forward, and remain hopeful we can find a new home soon.”
Councillor David Gibson, co-chairman of Brighton council's housing committee, said: “Our ‘No Second Night Out’ offer is an important service helping people move off the streets.
“It’s essential that we offer people short-term accommodation quickly before they’re impacted by the wider difficulties many people who sleep rough for the longer-term can often face.
“We’ve been working with St Mungo’s to ensure they can continue to provide the service.
“It’s an urgent priority for us to work with St Mungo’s and help them find replacement premises as quickly as possible to ensure we can avoid an increase in the numbers of people needing to sleep rough in the city.”
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