Councils spend £1.74 billion on temporary accommodation for the homeless

The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that homelessness has reached record levels, with 104,000 households living in temporary accommodation at the end of March 2023.

This is an 89% increase over the past decade and the highest figure since records began in 1998.

The LGA, which represents councils across England, said that the severe shortage of social housing means councils are being forced to pay to house people in private temporary accommodation, including hotels and B&Bs, while they wait for a permanent home.

This has cost councils at least £1.74 billion in 2022/23.

Frozen LHA rates are driving increases in homelessness

The LGA also said that the rising cost of living and frozen Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are driving increases in homelessness and reducing councils’ ability to source suitable accommodation.

The organisation is calling on the Government to use the upcoming Autumn Statement to:

• Restore LHA rates to cover the bottom 30th percentile of local rents
• Further reform to Right to Buy
• Provide a long-term rent deal for council landlords.

There’s also a call to provide long-term funding certainty for local government to help build 100,000 high-quality, climate-friendly social homes a year.

‘Under mounting pressure to find suitable homes’

Councillor Darren Rodwell, the LGA’s housing spokesperson, said: “Councils are under mounting pressure to find suitable homes for an ever-increasing number of people and are doing the best they can under current circumstances.

“A plethora of issues has meant that council budgets are being squeezed and the chronic shortage of suitable housing across the country means that councils are increasingly having to turn to alternative options for accommodation at a significant cost.”

He added: “Councils need to be given the powers and resources to build enough social homes for their residents so they can create a more prosperous place to live, with healthier and happier communities.”

Challenges posed by asylum and resettlement schemes

The LGA is also highlighting the challenges posed by asylum and resettlement schemes, which are adding to supply and demand issues.

Current programmes involving the increased pace and scale of asylum decisions, closure of hotels for Afghan households and new arrivals from Afghanistan are now running in parallel with winter pressures, combined with ongoing support for homeless Ukrainian and Afghan households.

The clearance of the asylum backlog in particular means increasing risks around destitution and rough sleeping numbers.