The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has published an excellent report, that lays bare the true state of temporary accommodation (TA) in England, with a particular focus on what it is like for the more than 164,000 children who are growing up in various kinds of TA, including B&Bs and out-of-area placements.
The human cost
Building on our work on the APPG for households in TA, they lay bare the horrendous conditions that make temporary accommodation a safeguarding issue, rather than the respite it is supposed to be. They document serious hazards, overcrowding, poor maintenance and lack of adequate facilities, which has led to temporary accommodation contributing to the deaths of at least 74 children over a five year period. Conditions have not improved in the past two years.
“The appalling conditions in some temporary accommodation in England are utterly shameful.”
Each of these failings has a devastating impact on the people trapped in temporary accommodation. Toddlers are growing up in spaces so cramped there’s no room to crawl, let alone learn to walk. Meanwhile, their older siblings are left without a quiet or suitable place to do their homework.
Families fleeing domestic abuse are being placed in accommodation where they are forced to share facilities with male perpetrators. This further traumatises women and children at their most vulnerable.
Others are being sent miles away from their local area, cut off from everything they know. Children are pulled out of their schools, families lose access to trusted GPs, support services become harder to reach, and the vital networks people rely on disappear. The consequences of this isolation are far-reaching and affect education, health, work and wellbeing.
This report is a welcome addition to the substantial body of evidence that shines a light on this dark side of the housing market. It has long been grim, but every year the problem deepens.
Temporary accommodation was never meant to be long-term. It was meant to be a safety net, but for far too many it has become a trap. It is unsafe, unsuitable, and completely unfit for the lives it holds.
“We are concerned that issues of poor-quality temporary accommodation continue to persist, even though it is now over five years since the then Children’s Commissioner described these conditions as “simply inappropriate places for a child to be growing up.”
The financial cost
The news is not much better when we look at the financial cost. Local authorities across the country pay extortionate amounts to keep this system going.
The stark financial picture is worst in London, where boroughs spend £4 million every day, but the bill is increasing at a faster rate outside the capital. Between 2020 and 2024, the use of temporary accommodation rose by 73% in the South West and 216% in the North East. In total, local authorities spent a staggering 2,29 billion on TA in 2023/24.
To find this money, LAs have to dig into other budgets, such the Homelessness Prevention Grant that is meant for prevention. Local authorities are, in other words, not able to deliver what the government has intended. It’s a lot of money to spend on bad outcomes.
Recommendations
While the focus in this report is on children, their parents and other single adults are affected by poor standards and lack of regulation too. Nobody should have to live like this.
The Committee sets out a list of recommendations that align closely with ours, including improved standards, a notification system between local authorities, unfreezing of the Local Housing Allowance, and collaboration across government departments. We highly recommend anyone working in the sector to give it a read.
The report is clear that, not only are we in a housing crisis, we are in a temporary accommodation crisis too. We know this, the multiple problems have been well documented. The more than 80,000 families living in TA now cannot wait for houses to be built by the end of the decade. Action is needed to reduce the life shattering uncertainty, time spent and outright danger, as a matter of urgency.
