Letting agents and landlords could play a greater role in tackling homelessness and reducing councils’ reliance on costly temporary accommodation, according to a south coast agency.
Southampton-based SDM Property says it has secured 532 tenancies in the past year for people who were homeless or living in emergency or temporary accommodation.
The agency works with councils and private landlords to find longer-term homes. It is now expanding the model across the south coast.
SDM has recently taken on around 10 units in Bournemouth and another three in Portsmouth.
The expansion comes as councils face mounting costs from housing homeless households.
Figures highlighted by homelessness charity Crisis show English councils spent a record £2.9bn on temporary accommodation in the year to March 2026. That compares with £1.6bn five years earlier.
Of the latest total, £1.9bn went on nightly-paid accommodation, hostels and B&Bs. Meanwhile, 135,580 households were living in temporary accommodation at the end of March.
‘Agents can solve some very real problems’
SDM director Mark Vine believes agents can use their relationships with landlords and councils to help keep more people in settled accommodation.
He said: “We’re a business and this has to work for the landlord as well as the tenant. But we’ve discovered that an agent can use its relationships with landlords and councils to solve some very real problems in its community.
“This isn’t a migrant accommodation scheme, which is a different area requiring a specialist approach. This is a pragmatic local solution for people in our communities who are homeless or living in emergency or temporary accommodation.
“We’re talking about families living in hotels because they can’t find an affordable rental property, or somebody suddenly facing homelessness because their landlord needs to sell.”
Sale keeps family in their home
One recent case involved a family facing the loss of their rented home after their landlord decided to sell.
New Forest District Council approached SDM after the owner served notice on the family.
Instead of finding another property, SDM found an investor willing to buy the two-bedroom flat with the tenants remaining in place.
The parties agreed a price within around two weeks. SDM now manages the tenancy for the new landlord.
Vine said: “The landlord wanted to sell, the tenants wanted to stay, the council wanted to prevent them becoming homeless and another landlord wanted an investment.
“We brought those interests together and the family kept its home.”
East Hampshire District Council has also worked with the agency. SDM says the arrangement has helped house people who struggle to find properties within Local Housing Allowance rates, particularly under-35s.
Call for more landlords to participate
SDM is now seeking more properties across Southampton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and surrounding areas.
It is particularly encouraging landlords who may previously have ruled out tenants receiving benefits to consider participating.
Vine said: “The PRS can’t solve homelessness on its own. But there are good landlords with homes and local families who desperately need them.
“If agents and councils can bring more of those people together, everybody benefits – including the taxpayer.”
He added: “Behind that £2.9bn bill are thousands of people who don’t have a permanent place to call home.
“Temporary accommodation is necessary when somebody has nowhere else to go, but it shouldn’t become their home for months or years.”
