A record number of children are living in B&Bs beyond the legal limit as England's homelessness crisis pushes councils to breaking point. MPs said there is a "dire need" for housing reform, with the lack of affordable homes forcing cash-strapped local authorities to haemorrhage their funds on temporary accommodation.
The "crisis situation" means there is less money in the pot to focus on homelessness prevention, the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said. Councils are instead having to prioritise short-term solutions which can include putting families in bed and breakfasts - the fastest rising temporary accommodation type over the past decade, a Sky News analysis of government data found.
Temporary accommodation is meant to be a short-term solution for people who are homeless while they wait for more suitable and long-term housing options. But the rising number of homeless households in England, driven by a shortage of social or otherwise affordable housing to move on to, means that increasingly this fix is anything but temporary.
A recent Sky News investigation found that children in some parts of England are spending as long as five-and-a-half years on average in temporary accommodation. Length of stay has increased significantly in many areas since 2021, with particularly long stays in London and the South East.
