More than 123,000 children and their families have spent their school holiday homeless, an increase of around 53,000 since the summer holidays of 2011, councils reveal today.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is today warning that the numbers of homeless children that councils are housing in temporary accommodation has increased by 76 per cent in the last seven years.
Councils, who since 2011, have been housing an additional 650 homeless children every month – the equivalent of an additional primary school’s worth of children every fortnight – are calling on the Government to adapt welfare reforms and allow councils to borrow to build new homes, with the right infrastructure, to tackle the housing shortage which is the root cause of our homelessness crisis.
Living in temporary accommodation can present serious difficulties for children and families. The resulting instability can affect parents’ employment and health whilst children can struggle to take up hobbies, form friendships and succeed at school.
The LGA, which represents 370 councils across England and Wales, said that the current situation is now unsustainable. The net cost of providing temporary accommodation is spiralling, with more families struggling to meet the cost of housing.
In turn, this is putting pressure on local government which, faced with an almost £8 billion funding gap by 2025, is calling urgently on government to provide measures that could alleviate the homelessness crisis.
Councils have led the way in improving how they can help homeless households, with examples of innovative housing options including modular homes, dynamic purchasing systems and private rented sector offers but warn that the government needs to go much further, much faster, to support councils to prevent homelessness for all groups, including families and their children.
This includes being able to borrow to build and keep 100 per cent of the receipts of homes sold under the Right to Buy in order to be able to reinvest in new and existing housing.
LGA Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Howard Sykes said:
“The summer holidays are supposed to be magical times for children. It’s a chance to be with friends and family and create memories that can last a lifetime. For too many families, it has been a miserable existence, living in inappropriate conditions as they experience the sharp end of our national housing shortage.
“Councils are currently housing almost 123,000 children experiencing homelessness, which not only has hugely negative impact on their young lives but creates an unsustainable position for local councils, as they experience spiralling housing costs without the tools and resources to deliver the homes their residents need.
“It’s crucial that we take the serious measures that are needed to get towards our collective ambition to end homelessness outright. The Government needs to ensure all councils are able to borrow to build the new homes that are needed to address our housing shortage, and adapt welfare reforms to prevent people from losing their home where possible.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
- The LGA’s recent report, ‘Housing, Planning and Homelessness: Moving the Conversation On’
- The LGA’s recent briefings on the rough sleeping strategy and social housing green paper
- All figures on homelessness are sourced from the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Homelessness Live tables