Local authorities in England spent a record £1bn on temporary accommodation for homeless households last year, new analysis has revealed.
This represents an increase of more than 50% on the year before and includes £417m spent on hostel and bed & breakfast accommodation, a 63% increase on the previous year.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: ‘Decades of failure to build enough social homes combined with runaway rents and rising evictions has caused homelessness to spiral. Too many children are being forced to grow up homeless in grotty, cramped hostels and B&Bs, sharing beds with their siblings, with no place to play or do their homework.
‘Rather than sinking billions into temporary solutions every year, the government must invest in genuinely affordable social homes and support councils so they can start building them.’
