Homelessness campaigners have reacted with fury to statistics revealing the number of children in temporary accommodation has risen by almost 10,000 since last year.
Data from the Department for Communities and Local Government has revealed there are now 90,450 children living in temporary housing due to homelessness across England, the highest number since March 2009.
There were 28,460 applications for housing assistance made to local authorities in the last quarter of 2014, a 1% rise on the previous year. Figures reveal that less than half (48%) of these were accepted.
The use of temporary accommodation such as B&Bs and hostels to house homeless families rose by 9% over last year, with 61,970 households now living in such facilities. However the figures show 16,000 of these households had been placed in accommodation in another local authority district, a 31% rise on 2013.
Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said it was ‘appalling that our housing shortage has left thousands of homeless families hidden away in emergency B&Bs and hostels’ and called for politicians to ‘commit to building the affordable homes we desperately need’.
David Orr chief executive at the National Housing Federation, branded the news ‘shameful’, warning children were ‘paying the price for the failure to build the affordable homes we need and will continue to do so until politicians take bolder action and commit to end the housing crisis within a generation’.
Matt Downie, director of policy and external affairs at Crisis, added that the figures must act as ‘a wake-up call’ for government.
Speaking in the Commons, local government minister Kris Hopkins said: ‘This government’s approach to tackling homelessness has been focused on preventing homelessness, wherever possible, and ensuring those experiencing homelessness have the support they need to get back on their feet. We have invested more than £500m to ensure that local authorities and voluntary sector partners are able to support vulnerable people.
‘Our investment, backed by one of the strongest legislative safety nets in the world, ensures that no family should ever be without a roof over their heads and that vulnerable people facing a housing crisis receive support.’
