Nearly 90,000 children in the capital will spend Christmas in temporary accommodation organised by their local council, new figures have warned today.
London Councils said boroughs face the highest temporary accommodation figures for 15 years, with 89,850 children not having a permanent home.
The figures also show there are over 700 rough sleepers on London’s streets, and boroughs are providing emergency accommodation for 2,500 people.
London Councils is calling on the Government to improve the welfare system’s ability to prevent homelessness, long-term funding for sustaining local homelessness services, and boost councils’ resources for building social housing.
Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ executive member for housing & planning, said: ‘As well as skyrocketing temporary accommodation figures, councils face the nightmare scenario of extreme pressures on rough sleeper services that need to cope both with COVID-19 and cold weather snaps. And this is all taking place against a backdrop of horrendous budget constraints.
’Boroughs are doing all we can to support homeless Londoners this winter but if there’s be any hope of the government reaching its targets on reducing homelessness we need ministers to rethink their welfare policies, boost funding for frontline services, and prioritise building more affordable homes.’
