HEREFORDSHIRE is getting nearly £1.4 million more to buy up and manage properties to house young people at risk of homelessness.

Herefordshire Council has accepted a government grant of £910,000, which it will match-fund with cash from the NHS-backed Better Care Fund along with levies imposed on developers.

It will use this to buy ‘a minimum of ten’ properties on the open market, up to a maximum per property of £157,000.

The council also accepted a further revenue grant from the government of £478,615.

The spending will address the gaps in homelessness for vulnerable people aged 18-25 in the county as the authority has a duty to house those who are unintentionally homeless.

The properties will serve as ‘transitional’ housing, the council said, ‘and reduces the risk of homelessness and rough sleeping’.

The council is currently acquiring what will be its eighth such property in the county, for what it says is below the market value at £148,500, but did not give further details.

An update on the council’s delivery plan published last month said that in addition to the eight already secured, it had made offers on a further six properties.

Herefordshire Council is trying to rein in spending on temporary accommodation in the county, having spent over £3 million in the financial year to April on “hotel/ B&B style accommodation” along with nearly £400,000 on private rentals.