UK spends £2bn housing families in temporary accommodation

Councils in twelve of the UK’s biggest cities have spent nearly £2bn housing families in temporary accommodation over the past four years, investigators have reported.

Figures collected by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism show local authorities covering the twelve largest cities spent £464m on bed and breakfast style accommodation for families they were unable to properly house, a 5.7% increase on the previous year.

Separate findings show London boroughs alone have relocated 32,643 families outside their local area since 2009.

Analysis of the data indicates 10,832 families were rehoused in the year to April – a 16% hike on the previous year – with most abandoning areas of inner-London for the outer boroughs where private rents are cheaper.

However, an increasing number of families have been settled in towns further away such as Dartford in Kent and Slough in Berkshire.

‘For the sake of cutting a few pounds a week from their benefits, families and individuals are being forced out of their homes, to be put up in B&Bs or temporary accommodation that costs us all far more,’ said Leslie Morphy, chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis.

Housing minister, Mark Prisk, said: ‘There is absolutely no excuse for families to be sent miles away without proper regard for their circumstances, or to be placed in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for long periods of time.

‘The law is clear: councils have a responsibility to take into account people’s jobs and schools when securing homes for those in need.’