Birmingham city council is providing incentives to landlords who offer 12 month fixed tenancies to those on the authority’s homeless and housing registers. 

The scheme will enable landlords to select from a range of incentives such as specialist insurance, rental deposits or rental guarantees.

A spokeswoman for the council says: “In the last decade, homelessness has risen exponentially and a lack of affordable housing, as well as the impact of the Covid pandemic across the city, is only exacerbating the situation with Birmingham receiving more than 6,000 homeless applications in the last year.

“With 13,000 people on [the council’s] housing register, it can no longer meet the current level of demand needed to prevent homelessness across the city. It’s therefore imperative that we unlock the potential of the private-rented sector to provide housing for those who are most in need. 

“I’m extremely pleased that we have been able to launch this scheme that will provide the reassurances that landlords in the private-sector need, to allow us to rent their properties to those with lower incomes and provide much needed housing.”

At the launch of the scheme, 93 households from the council’s homeless register were identified and paired with landlords in the private rented sector who have used the scheme to accept new tenancies.