THE number of kids living in temporary accommodation due to homelessness has reached a record high, having risen by 7.5 per cent over the past 12 months.
The latest figures released by the Government this month show that 172,420 children in England are currently living in temporary accommodation. Families in London who face homelessness are the most probably to be in temporary accommodation, and in addition the most probably to be offered temporary homes outside the capital, given the pressures on its housing stock.
The figures also show that there was a fall of 8.7 per cent within the variety of families housed in B&Bs over the past 12 months.
The Salvation Army has called on the federal government to reply to the rise by ending the freeze on housing profit in the following Budget, to assist families out of poverty.
The director of the Salvation Army’s homeless services, Nick Redmore, said: “The freeze on housing profit is driving families deeper into poverty and homelessness with harmful consequences for his or her children. The rising demand and price of providing them with temporary accommodation can be pushing local authorities to the brink financially.
“Yes, the nation is under financial pressure, but every child deserves a secure and stable home, and this shouldn’t be their burden to hold.”
Numbers of families in temporary accommodation have been surging since 2023. The situation will not be temporary for a lot of, either: one in five families with children living in temporary accommodation in England have been there for five or more years.
The government figures also show that just about 60 per cent of those facing homelessness have additional needs. Mental health, physical ailing health or disability, rough-sleeping, domestic abuse, and addiction are probably the most common risk aspects.
There has also been an increase in estimated numbers of individuals sleeping rough: 8732 were recorded in June, a five per cent rise on the last 12 months’s figures.
The chief executive of Crisis, Matt Downie, said: “Tragically now we have now develop into totally accustomed to seeing record levels of kids growing up in temporary accommodation. We are talking about children with no space to play, no place to do homework, no secure, stable place to call home. So now we have to ask, as living costs increase and the provision of social homes recedes, when this can end?”
The official homelessness statistics did, nevertheless, show a fall within the variety of households approaching councils for support with homelessness, down 6.7 per cent on the previous 12 months.
There was also a decrease within the variety of households falling into homelessness after losing their home to a no-fault eviction as Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill is near becoming law. The Bill has been welcomed by housing charities.
Homelessness minister Alison McGovern said that the statistics were a “harsh reminder that too many have been let down by the system meant to guard them”. The Government has promised to publish an in depth homelessness strategy this autumn.
Figures from the Institute for Government show that local authorities spent £3.8 billion tackling homelessness within the last 12 months, which represents an 80 per cent rise during the last seven years.
