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What we know about Labour's stance on temporary accommodation

  • 5 min read |
  • Posted by Research, Policy and Comms Team
  • On 10 July 2024

Image source: Shelter x Ikea exhibition at the 2023 Labour Party Conference

This new Labour government has inherited a country recently entitled the “world’s worst on homelessness”. Temporary accommodation (TA) numbers continue to break records and councils warn that the rising £1.7 billion bill for TA could spell the “end of local government”.

It is clear that homelessness matters to the electorate, four fifths of whom said it was a “major national issue”, but will our political class do enough to reassure us that they will prioritise temporary accommodation and take bold action to reduce its devastating impact on people experiencing homelessness? Here is what we know about Labour’s policy position so far.

The Labour stance on Temporary Accommodation

With a vision of a more caring and fairer Britain, an incoming Labour government will be rightfully judged on its success in tackling homelessness, including ensuring the next generation can grow up in a safe and secure home

Mike Amesbury MP

While the Labour Manifesto does not specifically mention temporary accommodation, the Shadow Homelessness Minister until the election was called, Mike Amesbury MP, has repeatedly spoken about its impact and been critical of rising statistics. At a Labour Party Conference event last autumn held by the Households in Temporary Accommodation All Party Parliamentary Group, Amesbury affirmed the importance of getting a “referee on the pitch” to improve standards in TA, and has lamented that 100,000 children spending Christmas in TA is “not a vision for modern Britain”.

While homelessness is entirely solvable with the right will and resources, it is multifaceted and complex, impacted by issues that cut across government departments. It is therefore hugely welcome that Labour will prioritise ending homelessness through the development of a “cross-government strategy, working with Mayors and Councils across the country, to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness”. Led by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, the establishment of this “Ending Homelessness Unit” is a sign that addressing the housing emergency could be central to Labour’s government. Angela Raynor has spoken about this on multiple occasions.

Given the leading role TA has in driving our abysmal record on homelessness, we expect TA to be at the heart of any ending homelessness strategies this new unit develops. It remains to be seen what areas they will prioritise, but we hope to see clear, targeted action to address the harm caused by TA on multiple fronts including health, poor standards, lack of support, inaccessibility, and out-of-area placements. In addition to building truly affordable social housing, so people have somewhere to go from TA and indeed may never need it in the first place, we desperately need to implement short-term solutions to make experiences safer and healthier for the 112,000 households living there right now. This includes enforcing minimum living standards including kitchen facilities and accessibility adaptations, and ensuring councils are adequately resourced to provide holistic support, as included in the seven recommendations from the Households in TA APPG.

What the Labour manifesto tells us about social homes

It is promising that Labour’s manifesto pledges to deliver “the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation”. Experts say we need 90,000 social homes per year to end homelessness and stop a “cliff edge”, but it is not yet clear how many of the 1.5 million homes pledged will be social housing.

Newly appointed Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook MP, said at last year’s Labour Conference:“On social in the first year, we are going to direct the overwhelming proportion of grant funding under a Labour government towards social rented homes. In terms of the principle, they are the homes we need more than any others”

Only the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats pledged a specific figure of 150,000 social homes per year. The lack of affordable and social housing is a primary factor keeping people trapped in TA long-term as there is nowhere for people to go. Some people have an average stay of four years, stretching the idea that TA is temporary. We hope Labour will be bold in setting out a target further along into their government.

On Right to Buy, Labour has promised to “better protect our existing stock [of social homes] by reviewing the increased right to buy discounts introduced in 2012 and increasing protections on newly-built social housing”. As right to buy has resulted in over two million homes moving from public to private ownership and an average net loss of 24,000 social homes a year, Labour could go further by committing to reducing the discounts, suspending RTB altogether or at the very least suspend it for all new build properties. Although the right to buy scheme has made the dream of home ownership a reality for many, in the context of a housing crisis with 1.2 million households waiting for social housing, it is like “trying to refill a bath without being allowed to put the plug back in”, as Andy Burnham said.

On Section 21 “no fault” evictions

Labour’s promise to immediately abolish Section 21 “no fault” evictions will come as a huge relief to renters, 59% of whom are worried about homelessness. Section 21 has, for far too long, enabled landlords to evict tenants without a reason with just two months notice. Since the Conservative government first promised to scrap them five years ago, Section 21 evictions have led to households being threatened with homelessness 84,650 times. This figure only includes cases where the tenant decided to challenge the eviction in court, so the real figure will be much higher. The end of Section 21 will be a victory for renter’s rights and alleviate some of the pressures on TA that drive out-of-area placements and long-term stays in B&Bs. We hope to see Labour continue to strengthen renter protections by permanently linking Local Housing Allowance rates to the rising cost of rent and ending the freeze once and for all.

Over the past fourteen years, the crisis in housing and homelessness has been left unaddressed, beyond intermittent spells of targeted interventions to reduce rough sleeping, the most visible form of homelessness. This only scratches the surface and has left us with a system where people with disabilities are trapped in housing that fails to meet their basic needs, where homeless families are sent miles away from their schools and jobs, and where children have lost their lives.

The new government has a real chance to turn the tide on homelessness and build a future where the fear of homelessness is uncommon, temporary accommodation is rarely needed, and when it is, people’s experiences in TA are short, safe and healthy. Join our consultation to help us decide what policies we will push the Labour government on, to make this vision for the future a reality.

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