Councils are housing an ‘extra secondary school’s worth’ of homeless children each month, council chiefs say as they warn of homelessness becoming an ‘unsustainable’ situation.
The latest figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) show councils are providing temporary housing for 120,540 children with their families — a net increase of 32,650 (37%) since the second quarter of 2014.
This is an average of 906 extra children every month. There are 946 pupils in an average secondary school.
A new report from the LGA — entitled Housing our Homeless Households — warns the situation is ‘unsustainable’ as the net cost of providing temporary accommodation has tripled in the last three years.
‘When councils are having to house the equivalent of an extra secondary school’s worth of pupils every month, and the net cost for councils of funding for temporary accommodation has tripled in the last three years, it’s clear the current situation is unsustainable for councils, and disruptive for families,’ said Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA’s housing spokesman.
‘Whilst the Government’s indication it will explore ways to enable councils to build more homes is encouraging, these new homes can’t appear overnight, and the demand is urgent.
‘Councils are working hard to tackle homelessness, with some truly innovative work around the country – and we now need the Government to support this local effort by allowing councils to invest in building genuinely affordable homes, and taking steps to adapt welfare reforms to ensure housing remains affordable for low-income families.’
