VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Council fined £3k for woman’s rent increases
16/05/2025 A council has been ordered to pay a woman more than £3,000 in compensation for charging her unaffordable rent while she was in temporary accommodation. |
Council told to apologise to homeless abuse survivor
15/05/2025 The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has asked Halton Borough Council to apologise and pay monthly reparations to a homeless domestic abuse survivor they failed to help. |
Skyrocketing Right to Buy applications threaten social housing projects
13/05/2025 A recent rise in Right to Buy (RTB) applications is putting pressure on councils attempting to deliver affordable social housing, the LGA warns. |
Record number of children in temporary accommodation
30/04/2025 A record 165,510 children are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation, according to the latest homelessness figures. |
200k children risk being trapped in temporary accommodation
29/04/2025 Over 200,000 children could be in temporary accommodation by the end of this Parliament if more isn’t done to build social housing, homelessness charity warns. |
London boroughs issue bankruptcy warning over £330m overspend
23/04/2025 Town halls may soon be forced into effectively declaring bankruptcy if more is not done to tackle the £330m homelessness overspend, London Councils warns. |
Council rejects accusation it acted illegally in homeless mother case
22/04/2025 A London borough maintains that it has acted legally after the local government ombudsman accused it of refusing to find temporary housing for a pregnant woman. |
Social housing wait over a hundred years in some areas
09/04/2025 The Government has been urged to tackle the worsening housing crisis as new research reveals a century-long wait for social housing in parts of England. |
Temporary accommodation crisis ‘utterly shameful’, MPs say
03/04/2025 Council chiefs have urged the Government to increase the temporary accommodation subsidy as MPs warn homeless children are living in ‘appalling conditions’. |
Homelessness 'fastest growing financial risk' for London boroughs
28/03/2025 MPs have called for action to help local authorities in London tackle the rising costs of providing homelessness support. |
Shortfall worsens after allocation changes
04/03/2025 Councils are facing an additional £76m shortfall in their temporary accommodation budgets following changes to the allocation of £440m homelessness grant. |
Number of rough sleepers up by a fifth
28/02/2025 The number of people rough sleeping in England has increased by a fifth in a year, according to new government figures. |
Call to scrap ringfence in homelessness funding
27/02/2025 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to scrap a new ringfence within the homelessness prevention grant. |
Extra £30m to combat homelessness
26/02/2025 An additional £30m in emergency funding has been allocated to councils in England to help prevent evictions and support rough sleepers. |
Rough sleeping ‘a source of national shame’, MPs say
13/02/2025 The rising number of people sleeping rough in England is a source of national shame, ministers have been told. |
Croydon to use Peep Show flats for temporary housing
31/01/2025 Croydon Council is set to acquire part of Peep Show’s ‘Apollo House’, home of characters Mark and Jeremy, to house homeless people on a temporary basis. |
Havering to house homeless people in empty Essex office block
27/01/2025 Cash-strapped Havering Council has approved plans to convert an office block outside the borough into residential units for homeless families. |
‘No desire’ to address short-term homelessness system
24/01/2025 MPs examining the homelessness crisis have warned that there is seemingly ‘no desire to move away from an unsatisfactory short-term system’. |
Rough sleeping emergency fund boosted by £20m
20/01/2025 The Government today announced it was tripling the emergency funding available for rough sleepers this winter. |
‘Serious concerns’ about council’s homelessness service
10/01/2025 Brentwood Borough Council has been putting ‘unnecessary barriers’ in the way of people accessing its homelessness services, an investigation has found. |
Councils get £1bn to tackle homelessness
18/12/2024 Local authorities in England will receive the ‘largest ever’ cash injection into homelessness services next year, the Government has announced today. |
'Duty to collaborate' over homelessness call
16/12/2024 Labour-led London Councils has called for a ‘duty to collaborate' to be placed on five Whitehall departments as part of the Government's homelessness strategy. |
Home Office doubles time for new refugees to find home
06/12/2024 The Home Office will temporarily give new refugees more time to move on from asylum accommodation, in a move it is hoped will reduce pressure on councils’ homelessness services. |
Councils help rough sleepers as temperatures drop
20/11/2024 Local authorities across the country are offering emergency accommodation to people sleeping on the streets as temperatures fall below freezing. |
NI rise threatens homelessness services
11/11/2024 The rise in national insurance announced in the Budget could be the ‘nail in the coffin’ for many organisations providing homelessness services, charities say. |
Right to Buy could end for new council homes
08/11/2024 The deputy prime minister has suggested she wants to remove new council homes in England from the Right to Buy scheme. |
Starmer pledges £3.5m for veterans facing homelessness
08/11/2024 The Government has announced an extra £3.5m to support veterans facing homelessness. |
Emergency £10m rough sleepers fund launched
07/11/2024 An emergency £10m fund has been launched to protect rough sleepers from cold weather this winter. |
Inquiry into temporary accommodation launched
31/10/2024 A select committee has launched an inquiry into how living in temporary accommodation impacts children and families, and the pressure it puts on local authority finances. |
Budget: Chancellor confirms Right to Buy overhaul
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a raft of measures to tackle the ‘desperate lack of affordable housing’ including reform of the Right to Buy scheme. |
Scotland faces 90% homelessness rise by 2040
29/10/2024 Scotland is set for a ‘homelessness crisis of alarming proportions’ if current trends persist, new research has found. |
Council apologises after ‘vulnerable’ man left homeless
17/10/2024 Tower Hamlets Council has apologised after it left a vulnerable man with significant care needs unsupported when he was made homeless. |
Just 5% of London private rentals affordable to low-income households
17/10/2024 Only 5% of private rental listings in London are affordable to households who use Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to pay their rent, new research has found. |
Planning departments hit hardest by staff shortages
14/10/2024 Planning departments are facing the worst workforce shortages, with eight out of 10 experiencing recruitment and retention issues, new research has revealed. |
Homeless youths missing from official stats
10/10/2024 The number of homeless young people in London is at a record high but is likely to be much higher than official figures suggest, a homelessness charity has warned. |
Charities call for £1bn to prevent homelessness surge
10/10/2024 Almost £1bn of funding is due to leave the homelessness sector in April, leaving services facing a funding cliff-edge, a group of charities has warned. |
Council’s ‘financial resilience’ in question
07/10/2024 The ‘financial resilience’ of Windsor and Maidenhead is in question after the Cabinet heard this year's forecast overspend had risen from £9.9m to £12.4m. |
Councils illegally turning young homeless people away, charity warns
04/10/2024 Hundreds of young people who have approached councils for help with homelessness are being illegally turned away, the Guardian has reported. |
Number of families in temporary accommodation hits record high
03/10/2024 The number of households living in temporary accommodation has hit a record high, new figures reveal. |
Lambeth warns of ‘drastic savings’ without help
18/09/2024 Lambeth Council has called for urgent help in the Government’s Budget next month, at a time it said ‘could not be more critical’ for local authorities. |
Several London councils ‘edging closer towards effective bankruptcy’
12/09/2024 Boroughs in the capital are set to overspend by more than £600m this year as housing and homelessness pressures ‘wreak havoc’ on their finances, according to London Councils. |
Manchester adopts Finnish housing scheme in UK first
12/09/2024 A housing scheme said to have significantly reduced homelessness in Finland is set to become a ‘guiding philosophy’ in Greater Manchester after a successful pilot. |
LGA calls for longer asylum move-on time
11/09/2024 Councils have called for people to be allowed more time to leave Home Office accommodation after receiving an asylum decision. |
No-fault evictions ban returns to Commons
11/09/2024 A ban on landlords evicting tenants without a valid reason is among the ‘landmark’ renting reforms to be introduced to Parliament today. |
Warrington BC faces £29m overspend
03/09/2024 Warrington Borough Council could be facing a £29m overspend by the end of the financial year, the cabinet member for corporate finance has warned. |
West Midlands councils warn region will be ‘financially unsustainable’
02/09/2024 Seven council leaders in the West Midlands have warned there is a risk the region will have to declare itself as ‘financially unsustainable.’ |
Councils spend record £1bn on temporary accommodation
30/08/2024 Local authorities in England spent a record £1bn on temporary accommodation for homeless households last year, new analysis has revealed. |
Teen left at self-harm risk after council’s housing delay
22/08/2024 A teenager with significant support needs was at significant risk of self-harm after a council left him ‘on the brink of homeless’, an ombudsman has reported. |
Eastbourne warns of ‘extensive’ service cuts
14/08/2024 Eastbourne Borough Council has warned that rising costs of homelessness services have left it facing ‘extensive’ cuts to services. |
Glasgow joins international homelessness forum
13/08/2024 Glasgow has joined local leaders from three continents to commit to ending homelessness and call for global action on the issue. |
United call following homelessness surge
08/08/2024 The local government sector has united to call for urgent action following a surge in the number of homeless families. |
Newham raises alarm over ‘spiralling’ homelessness costs
06/08/2024 Newham Council has warned it may need government assistance due to the ‘spiralling’ costs of supporting homeless people. |
Homelessness pressures 'unsustainable'
24/07/2024 Councils face ‘unsustainable financial pressure' due to record levels of homelessness, according to a public spending watchdog. |
How to tackle London’s housing crisis
18/07/2024 Piali Das Gupta, London Councils’ Strategy Director – London’s Future, looks at what the new government should do to solve the capital’s housing shortage. |
Homelessness spending triples in eight years
02/07/2024 The proportion of councils’ total housing budget spent on homelessness and temporary accommodation has tripled since 2015, new analysis has revealed. |
Rough sleeping in London hits new record high
27/06/2024 The final year of a Conservative government that pledged to end rough sleeping saw a record number of people sleeping on the streets of London. |
Party leaders urged to act on migrant homelessness
25/06/2024 More than 100 homelessness and migrants’ rights organisations have called on the next government to stop the asylum system ‘driving people needlessly’ into destitution. |
North Yorkshire Council to invest £11.6m in temporary accommodation
20/06/2024 North Yorkshire Council is set to build 90 new temporary accommodation units at a cost of £11.6m. |
Build 90,000 social homes per year, party leaders told
20/06/2024 Charities and housing bodies have urged the major parties to commit to building 90,000 social homes per year over the next decade. |
Cash-strapped Slough BC faces going £11m over budget
13/06/2024 The leadership of Slough BC should take ‘immediate action’ as the council is at risk of going £11m over budget this year, according to cabinet papers. |
Quarter of councils spending 5% of budgets on temporary accommodation
05/06/2024 One in four local councils in England spent 5% of their core budgets on temporary accommodation in 2022-23, new research has revealed. |
Pembrokeshire buys housing stock worth £3.5m
21/05/2024 Pembrokeshire County Council has spent more than £3.5m acquiring housing since November. |
North Yorkshire aims to build 500 council homes
20/05/2024 North Yorkshire Council has published its first housing strategy, which includes an ambition to build 500 council homes over five years. |
Government waters down rough sleeping legislation
14/05/2024 The Government has watered down plans to criminalise rough sleeping following a Tory backbench rebellion. |
Tower Hamlets apologises after ‘gatekeeping’ finding
13/05/2024 Tower Hamlets did not do enough to help a family threatened with eviction, an ombudsman has found. |
Record 145,800 children live in temporary accommodation
30/04/2024 There are 145,800 children who are homeless and in temporary accommodation, new government figures have shown. |
MPs sign off indefinite delay to no-fault evictions ban
25/04/2024 The Renters (Reform) Bill, which now includes an indefinite delay to the long-awaited ban on ‘no-fault’ evictions, passed its third reading in the Commons yesterday. |
Over 84k households evicted since no-fault eviction ban promise
15/04/2024 Over 84,000 households have faced homelessness due to being issued with a section 21 notice since the Government committed to ban no-fault evictions. |
Councils face £332m youth homelessness shortfall
15/04/2024 Local authorities in England are facing a £332m annual shortfall in youth homelessness funding, new research has revealed. |
Proposed law could ease housing emergencies
27/03/2024 Scottish councils may be required to assess the condition of private rented accommodation under a proposed law. |
Young homeless people feel ‘ignored’ by councils
27/03/2024 Young people experiencing homelessness feel ‘dismissed and ignored’ when they approach local authorities for help, research has found. |
Leicester council to borrow £45m to buy property
26/03/2024 Leicester councillors have agreed to borrow £45m to buy property to help the city council tackle the local housing crisis. |
Call for reintroduction of housing targets
22/03/2024 A cross-party coalition representing 27 mid-sized regional British cities has called for the next Government to reintroduce local housebuilding targets. |
Hopes for regen scheme revived after Home Office scales back asylum plan
20/03/2024 A £300m council-led regeneration scheme threatened when Whitehall commandeered the site for asylum accommodation could now go ahead. |
Council apologises for failing to recognise abuse
14/03/2024 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has apologised after failing to properly identify the abuse suffered by a homeless man. |
Homelessness inquiry launched by NAO
13/03/2024 The National Audit Office (NAO) has launched an inquiry into homelessness as the issue piles pressure on squeezed council budgets. |
Crawley leaders warns of housing emergency
13/03/2024 The leader of Crawley Council has called on the Government to ‘take decisive action’ to address the city’s housing emergency. |
Call for ‘emergency action’ over rough sleeping spike
29/02/2024 A homelessness charity has called for ‘emergency action’ over ‘out of control’ levels of rough sleeping in England. |
London boroughs spend £3m a day on temporary accommodation
28/02/2024 The cost of temporary accommodation in the capital ‘threatens to bankrupt boroughs’, London Councils has warned. |
£220m boost for homelessness services
28/02/2024 The Government has announced £220m for councils to prevent families from becoming homeless and provide support for people sleeping rough. |
Eastbourne BC to vote on declaring housing emergency
28/02/2024 Eastbourne BC, the local authority behind a recent Westminster summit on the temporary-accommodation crisis, will today vote on declaring a housing emergency. |
Home Office 'chaos' leaves thousands of illegal arrivals in 'perma-backlog'
27/02/2024 The Government’s struggling asylum policy has heaped significant demand on cities’ housing services, experts have warned. |
Durham secures £6m to tackle homelessness
27/02/2024 Durham County Council has successfully secured over £6m in funding to tackle homelessness. |
Social housing investment could boost economy by over £50bn
26/02/2024 Much more investment in the construction of social housing could boost the economy by a dramatic £51.2bn, according to a new analysis. |
Ukrainian homelessness likely to rise
22/02/2024 The risk of homelessness among Ukrainians in the UK is likely to increase as arrangements with sponsors end or break down, MPs have warned. |
Prince William announces 24 homes for homeless people
19/02/2024 Prince William has announced plans to build 24 homes to temporarily house homeless people on Duchy of Cornwall land. |
Council chiefs call for review of Ukrainian refugee scheme
19/02/2024 Council leaders have called for an urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees as 9,000 have reported as homeless and more need longer-term support. |
Ealing agrees £150m package to buy up housing
14/02/2024 Councillors in Ealing have approved a £150m plan to acquire housing in the face of soaring temporary accommodation costs. |
The Temporary Housing Dilemma: a strategic approach
07/02/2024 Darya Kolas, Partner & Head of Social Housing at Copping Joyce, discusses the temporary housing dilemma facing local authorities. |
Scotland’s homelessness system 'at risk of failure'
02/02/2024 Scotland’s homelessness system is on the brink of collapse, according to the country’s housing watchdog. |
Rough sleeping in London reaches record high
01/02/2024 More people were sleeping rough in the capital at the end of 2023 than at any period in the past decade. |
Health boost for Housing First residents, research finds
01/02/2024 Housing First – under which homeless people are guaranteed a home while they access support – reduces demand on health and social care services, study finds. |
Two in five adults fear mounting housing pressures
24/01/2024 Two in five people who pay housing costs in England are worried that pressures will get worse this year, new research has found. |
Homelessness costs could spell ‘end of local government’
24/01/2024 The increasing cost of homelessness could lead to more councils declaring effective bankruptcy and the ‘end of local government’, council leaders warn. |
£17m to help rough sleepers for councils ‘most in need’
16/01/2024 The Government has provided £17m to help homeless people off the streets as it insisted it would deliver its pledge to end rough sleeping this year. |
Homelessness charities extend Crisis at Christmas service
05/01/2024 National homelessness charities Crisis and St Mungo’s are teaming up for a third year to extend their hotel service in London into the new year. |
Rural homelessness up 40%
04/01/2024 Levels of homelessness in rural areas have increased by 40% over the last five years, research by a countryside charity has revealed. |
Half of teachers work with homeless children
22/12/2023 The ‘nightmare of child homelessness’ is damaging children’s education as they suffer exhaustion, hunger and poor mental health, Shelter has warned. |
Boroughs have ‘nothing to offer’ as refugee homelessness rises
07/12/2023 New research has found that an increasing number of refugees are rough sleeping in London after leaving Home Office accommodation. |
Home Office admits 'more we can and need to do'
30/11/2023 More needs to be done to share data and improve communications with councils, Home Office mandarins have admitted. |
