A SUPPORT service for hoarders who collect property and struggle to discard items will continue to be funded by a Gwent council.
Staff offer practical advice and support to adults with hoarding difficulties and the service is described as taking a “restorative and trauma-informed approach” and recognises “hoarding is often systematic of deeper-rooted mental ill health”
The Hoarding Support Service has been funded by Torfaen Borough Council since 2022/23, and employs the equivalent of three full-time staff.
It works with the psychology teams from Gwent’s Aneurin Bevan University Health Board to ensure appropriate advice and support is provided.
A performance review was carried out in 2023/24 and the findings demonstrated it was a high quality, cost effective and strategically relevant service.
It has requested £161,079.98 from the council for the 2026/27 financial year which will be provided from the authority’s Housing Support Grant which is worth £5.8 million for the coming year.
The grant, awarded by the Welsh Government, has increased by 3.3 per cent this year and the council uses it for support services, homelessness prevention and Rent Smart Wales which regulates and supports the private rental sector.
Temporary accommodation
The council will also continue to fund a financial advice and support project, costing £92,000 with two full-time equivalent staff, and provide £38,284.40 for a project to support vulnerable people in temporary accommodation at Pearl House, in Pontypool, including those at risk of criminal exploitation.
Pearl House opened in April 2025 and a report by council contracts officer Sophie Slade, said there has been “clear and increasing evidence” of people whose needs exceed the capacity of standard supported accommodation.
“Many are at risk of sexual or financial exploitation, substance misuse escalation, cuckooing, trafficking, grooming, county lines involvement, and behaviours that place them or others at risk,” her report stated.
The projects were first proposed in 2022/23 and have been reviewed and delivery periods extended to 2027.