Housing ‘disgrace’ as number of families in temporary accommodation hits record high

The number of families being forced to live in temporary accommodation has hit another record high as campaigners urge the government to get serious about building social housing on a major scale.

New figures reveal 105,750 households were in temporary accommodation in England at the end of June – a 25-year high and an increase of 10.5 per cent in a year. The total number of children in temporary accommodation was 138,930 – the highest since records for that measure began in 2004. Housing charity Shelter said it was “yet another shameful record in the housing emergency”.

Other official figures released on Thursday show just 9,500 additional social homes were added to the housing supply in the past year, with housing charities warning this is nowhere near the level needed to tackle homelessness. Of these, 8,386 were newly built.

It comes days after after levelling up secretary Michael Gove said Britain’s housing crisis was even “worse” than widely believed, admitting: “We haven’t built enough homes overall for generations.”

Matt Downie, Crisis chief executive, said it was “a disgrace” that so few homes had been built in the past year. “A few thousand affordable homes is simply not enough. We need a major programme of social house building,” he said.

Rick Henderson, CEO of charity Homeless Link, said the latest statistics, released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, were “shocking” and warned of the financial impact on authorities in England, adding: “The cost of providing temporary accommodation is crippling local authorities across the country, to the extent that some are filing for bankruptcy and others are on the verge of going under.”

Mr Henderson said the next government must build “the 90,000 social homes per year we need” and added: “In the short-term, evictions from private tenancies continue to be a major cause of homelessness, despite the commitment to ban ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions in 2019.”

There is a huge need for affordable housing, and local authorities – who were traditionally big builders of social housing – have decreased the number of homes they build in recent decades. Analysis of government data by The Independent earlier this year found that in each of the last five financial years, two-thirds of councils failed to build a single home themselves.

More than 8,300 Section 21 evictions, known as no-fault evictions because the landlord doesn’t have to give a specific reason, went to court from July to September this year.

Tom Darling, campaign manager for the Renters’ Reform Coalition, described the latest statistics as “stark” and said they are “yet another reminder of the urgency of abolishing Section 21 evictions – which are a key driver of homelessness, as well as a source of constant insecurity for millions of tenants.”

Melanie, 52, became homeless with her three children after being served with a Section 21 eviction and is now living in a Travelodge room with no cooking facilities.

Melanie, who works for the NHS, said her “life changed overnight” and the uncertainty has taken a toll on her 17-year-old daughter who is studying for her A levels, and her two 15-year-olds who are studying for their GCSEs.

“The hardest part of being homeless is the uncertainty. We are booked into the Travelodge one week at a time, and only find out on checkout day if we will stay here or be moved on. This means we cannot plan anything more than a week ahead as we can be moved anywhere, so we live with packed suitcases,” she said.

“We have no idea where we will be spending Christmas. My children need stability after an emotionally difficult year, and that’s impossible living here. My youngest daughter paces the room to help her cope. My son has ADHD and my other daughter, who I currently share a bed with, has cerebal palsy. I just want a social home that I can afford on my pay so I can take care of myself and my family.”

Darren Baxter, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said the government must bring in the Renters Reform Bill and abolish Section 21 “without any more delays”.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said that the figures were “another shameful record in the housing emergency”. She added: “Decades of failure to build enough social homes combined with record-high private rents has resulted in more and more families being plunged into homelessness.”

A Department for Levelling Up spokesperson said: “Everyone deserves a safe place to call home, that’s why we are spending £2bn over three years as part of a cross-government strategy to build homes for rough sleepers, give financial support for people to find a new home, and prevent evictions.

“We know building more homes is also a part of the solution and we are doing so as part of our long-term plan for housing. This also includes our multi-billion pound programme to build thousands of new affordable homes, with a large number for social rent.”