Number of homeless children in UK highest since records began: 'A genuine humanitarian crisis'

A record 151,630 children are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation in England as the country’s spiralling crisis has left more people than ever without a home. 

Official government figures found that the number of households living in temporary accommodation are also at the highest since records began, with 117,450 households – up 12.3% since last year and up 4.3% since last quarter – living in accommodation like B&Bs on 31 March 2024. 

A total of 151,630 dependent children were living in temporary accommodation on 31 March 2024 – up 14.7% since last year and up from 145,800 since last quarter.

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Government figures found that London had the highest prevalence of households living in temporary accommodation, with 17.8 households per 1,000 in London living in temporary accommodation, compared to 2.5 households per 1,000 in the rest of England. 

Lord John Bird, founder of the Big Issue, described the rise in homelessness as “appalling”. He said: “The time for nebulous homelessness taskforces and woolly cross-government strategies is over. This is an urgent and immediate crisis, on which our new government must act on now.

“We must turn our attention to cutting out the roots of these problems. With 14 million Brits blighted by poverty, it’s no surprise more and more families find themselves facing homelessness. We can’t keep plastering over the cracks. How many more must suffer before poverty becomes our priority?”

With government figures finding a steep rise in households living in temporary accommodation, it was revealed in July that council spending on homelessness and temporary accommodation has tripled in eight years. 

Analysis from the Local Government Association (LGA) found council spending on homelessness has increased by 42% since 2015/16, with the issue now using up 60% of councils’ total housing budgets. 

Councillor Claire Holland, housing spokesperson for LGA, said: “The shortage of affordable housing means that more and more people are having to turn to their local council for support and these figures worryingly show councils are supporting another record-high number of households living in temporary accommodation.

“The temporary accommodation subsidy gap, currently stuck at 2011 levels, needs to be urgently addressed as this is driving ever higher-spend on temporary accommodation and limiting the resources available for homelessness prevention.”

Amnesty International UK described the homelessness statistics as “a grim status quo” in the UK, and that the government “can’t afford to wait for new buildings” to be built to address homelessness.

“Whilst the Government have been quick to address the emergency in our criminal justice system, economic instability, and the Rwanda policy, there has rightly been a commitment to swift action. With homelessness figures at the highest since records began, where is the similar resolve for swift action?” Jen Clark, economic and social rights lead at Amnesty International UK told the Big Issue.

“The Government must urgently deliver and implement a crisis action plan to address homelessness, including the appalling quality of emergency and temporary accommodation, which leaves people trapped, inadequate hostel systems, limited access to adequate healthcare, and children’s health perilously affected as a result of political choices.”

Dave Robinson, assistant director of operations at housing charity Riverside, told the Big Issue: “It is deeply worrying to see the number of homeless children in England living in temporary accommodation increase by more than 20,000 in a year to reach another record high. For the first time we now have more than 150,000 homeless children living in temporary accommodation.

“This is a genuine humanitarian crisis. Earlier this year a mum-of-three fleeing domestic violence told us she was living in wholly unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation as two of her children started lives at new schools last September,” he added.

“The family of four had no access to a kitchen to cook food and had to share two beds between them leading to poorer sleep for all members of the family. This temporary accommodation was not even properly able to meet the physiological needs of this young family, never mind their safety or social needs.”

Robinson added that the charity was “heartened” by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner’s plans to create an “ending homelessness unit” in the government with the aim to deliver a boost to social housing.

“We desperately need to see greater government investment to build more social housing,” Robinson said.

“However, there are also things we can do to use existing social homes more effectively. We have been working with a council to move people out of temporary accommodation into a settled, permanent home with a support worker. This scheme has a 96% success rate, is breaking the cycle of homelessness and transforming the lives of families and has saved the council £1.6m over four years.”

Section 21, the Renters’ Rights Bill and the UK’s homeless crisis

The government’s figures also found that 6,630 households were threatened with homelessness due to service of a Section 21 eviction notice, an increase of 1.2% from the same quarter last year.

Charities and experts have welcomed Labour’s plan to ban this type of eviction – which allows landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason, criticised as a leading driver of homelessness.

Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, revealed in July’s King’s Speech, will reportedly see an end to Section 21 evictions, as well as give more rights to renters, including the right to keep a pet, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse.

Alexia Murphy, CEO of youth homelessness charity, Depaul UK told the Big Issue: “These figures are a reflection of how broken our housing and welfare system is, and it’s deeply concerning. Behind each statistic is a person deserving of a safe place to live and the support of their community, collectively they hold a mirror up to society that we ignore at our peril.

“While we’re optimistic and hopeful that our new government is committed to a strategy to end homelessness, we know that short-term action is also needed, otherwise things are likely to get worse.”

Murphy explained that England is currently “facing multiple converging factors which could potentially trigger a further increase in homelessness”, including local authorities struggling with lack of funding.

“While legislation to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’ is much needed, it could also trigger a wave of evictions as landlords seek to secure their properties in the short-term,” Murphy explained.

 “We hope that the government acts now to avoid these risks. For example, we are urging them to provide more funding for long-term homelessness accommodation and support programmes, instead of councils having to pay out huge amounts for temporary accommodation, which is what is happening right now.”

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