A cash boost of more than £270,000 has been given to Wycombe District Council by the Government in a bid to tackle homelessness in the area. 

The council has been given a ring-fenced grant of £273,000 – split into sums of around £40,000 per year for the next three years – to be used to prevent homelessness.

It comes after plans were revealed to introduce the Homelessness Reduction Act, which will come into force in April this year, which will impose a new duty on housing authorities to relieve rough sleeping. 

The money has been given in a bid to “offset” the costs of the extra work that will be needed and will be used to manage the demand on the service and the costs of bed and breakfast use. 

A spokesman for the councils added: “We are in the process of recruiting additional officers to assist us with the new duties and will continue to work closely with our partners to address and tackle homelessness.”

The demand for help with homelessness is expected to remain at high levels during 2018/19, with the council saying the impact of welfare changes will become “increasingly more challenging for those at risk.”