Rising cost of homelessness continues to put pressure on Worthing Borough Council budgets
Released: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
A continuing surge of local people becoming homeless means we face having to borrow £5m more just to fund the vital services we provide.
In the first nine months of this financial year alone, 541 local households came to us seeking advice about homelessness because they were at risk of having nowhere to stay.
We forecast we will spend over 30% of our entire budget this year on helping local residents who would otherwise be homeless, and like many local authorities we expect the situation to continue to worsen over the next 12 months.
Worthing's cabinet yesterday backed a budget that would continue to provide the vital services the community needs with a council tax rise of just 2.97% - the equivalent of less than three pence per day extra for a household living in the average Band D home.
Councillor Sophie Cox, the leader of Worthing Borough Council, said:
“Over the last three years we've worked tirelessly to keep local families off the streets by building extra temporary accommodation, securing long-term agreements with landlords and helping members of the community to resolve issues so they don't become homeless.
“Despite this, the number of local people struggling with the cost of living continues to rise, and we're doing everything we can to support them to make sure that no one is left behind.
“As a council for the community we continue to be committed to supporting each of our residents, to making Worthing greener and fairer for everyone, and to transforming our seafront and town centre for the better - whilst recognising the significant financial pressures we face.”
When we were preparing our budget for the current financial year, significant rises in exceptional costs led to us asking the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for permission to borrow £2m to fund our services for 2025/26.
During the year, the cost of providing housing for Worthing residents who would otherwise be homeless has continued to rise steeply, so we have gone back to MHCLG for permission to extend our exceptional borrowing this year to £4.75m.
To meet the ongoing shortfall, we have also asked for permission to borrow a further £5m for 2026/27 so that we can fund our services for the next 12 months because of the continuing increase in the number of Worthing residents, including families with children, who are coming to us for help as they have nowhere to live.
This is on top of the extra £1.3m that Worthing is to receive from the government for 2026/27, compared to 2025/26, as part of the national Fair Funding Review.
We will launch a new food waste collection service for residents this year, which is part of a national push to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
We will also continue to work with partners to revitalise Worthing's seafront and the town centre, to protect its heritage and make the area more attractive for residents and visitors.
During 2026/27 our engineers will fashion with structural experts a permanent repair to the damaged section of Worthing Pier.
Our officers are working closely with Historic England and The Worthing Society on an affordable solution to allow the lido site to be transformed for future generations.
The project to reshape Montague Gardens for the benefit of everyone who visits, lives or works in Worthing will be completed this summer.
Work has also begun with the Environment Agency on a vital coastal defence programme to protect homes and businesses along the seafront and in the town centre for the next decade.
The draft revenue budget supported by Worthing's cabinet will now go to the full council for approval at its meeting at 10:30am on Wednesday 4th March 2026 at Worthing Town Hall.
To read a report on the draft revenue budget, see:
(PR26-015)
Page last updated: 04 February 2026