Roughly one in eight children with disabilities are living in temporary accommodation across England, research has revealed.

Findings from Variety, the Children’s Charity, have confirmed that approximately 21,000 disabled children are currently housed in temporary accommodation, with many of these environments not being fitted with essential lifts, ramps, or accessible bathrooms.

The report, titled ‘“We are invisible”: children with disabilities in temporary accommodation’, unveils that children are most commonly placed in ‘nightly paid’ accommodation, with hostels being the second most used setting.

‘Our findings expose an unsustainable, dangerous reality for disabled children and their families across England’, the report reads.

It also found that disabled children are staying in temporary accommodation for an average of six to 10 months – the longest case being six years and three months.

According to the research, only 122 of 296 councils responded to the charity’s Freedom of Information requests about data on disabled children in temporary accommodation.

While 143 of the councils that did not provide data had responded with their reasoning, the remaining 31 local authorities gave no response. Variety has argued that the inability to supply data is ‘effectively rendering these already marginalised families “invisible” within official records’.

To address these issues, the charity is calling for the Government to lift the Benefit Cap and increase the Local Housing Allowance for families with disabled children.

Additionally, it is urging councils to ensure the quality and accessibility of temporary accommodation offered to families with disabled children is regulated, as well as advising that data collection on children in temporary accommodation is obligatory for local authorities.

Finally, the report recommends the rollout of a national policy that prevents disabled children being placed in emergency accommodation, and the implementation of a maximum time limit that determines how long they can remain in the accommodation.

Laurence Guinness, Chief Executive of Variety, the Children’s Charity, said: ‘These findings reveal a devastating reality. Living in a secure home is a foundation for a healthy life, yet we are placing disabled, and in many cases highly vulnerable, children in spaces that actively harm them.

‘We are calling on the Government to act now by changing the law to ensure that no disabled children are ever forced to live in temporary accommodation for longer than is absolutely necessary’.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.