Temporary accommodation spending hits new record high

Temporary accommodation spending hits new record high Over £8m a day is being spent on emergency provision, new figures show - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Councils in England spent a record £2.9bn on temporary accommodation in the year to April, new official figures show. This equates to just over £8m being spent on these emergency settings every day – an 88 per cent rise over the last five years. The new figure is up £100m, or 4 per cent, from last year, indicating a slowdown in the rising cost of provision. Around £1.78bn, or 65 per cent, of the total expenditure went towards emergency B&Bs and nightly paid, self-contained housing, the data from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) shows. These private dwellings are the most expensive types of temporary accommodation. The heightened use of B&Bs – rising from £711m to £822m – comes after the government pledged in June to reduce the use of these settings. Statistics released last month showed there were 135,580 families living in temporary accommodation as of March 2026, housing 177,530 children. Both represented record figures. Mairi MacRae, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter, said: “We have spent years treating the symptoms of the housing emergency, without addressing its cause. Without enough social homes, we’re throwing money at private companies to provide cramped and often grim temporary accommodation, which gets us no closer to ending homelessness. “Councils once built the majority of social rent homes in this country. It is completely senseless that in today's world they are forced to waste billions on temporary accommodation instead and are held back from building the social homes that would end the housing emergency.” In June, the government pledged a £30m investment to reduce the use of emergency accommodation, which local authorities have warned is now forming a substantial part of their annual budgets. New prime minister Andy Burnham pledged £442m last month in an ambitious drive to end rough sleeping in the UK. The government also unveiled how the first quarter of a £39bn affordable home fund made by the previous administration would be spent to deliver 70,000 affordable dwellings. But campaign groups have called on the government to go further, urging ministers to unfreeze housing benefit rates which have remained unchanged since April 2024 despite private rental costs rising. The policy means fewer than two per cent of advertised private tenancies are affordable for those relying on housing benefits, recent research by Citizens Advice found. Responding to the latest figures, Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, said: “These new figures show how desperately we need a culture shift away from ruinously expensive temporary fixes for homelessness, towards an approach that prioritises stable, permanent homes. “To prevent homelessness rising further, the government must urgently unfreeze housing benefit so it reflects the true cost of private renting. With the right action, we can finally start to see this overreliance on temporary accommodation fall and ensure everyone has access to the vital foundation that is a secure home.” Temporary accommodation is offered by councils to homeless people in their areas while they wait for a permanent home on the social housing waiting list. Although designed to be a short-term, ‘emergency’ stay, many families are spending years in the often unsuitable settings due to pressure on housing waiting lists. Cllr Carl Cashman, Chair of the LGA's Inclusive Growth Committee, said: “Councils are caught in a vicious cycle of ever-increasing temporary accommodation costs versus static rates they receive back to cover their costs. While it’s positive that the rate of increase in spending on temporary accommodation has slowed, the fact that it’s still growing is alarming. "While there have been positive steps to address broader homelessness challenges, councils need the Government to provide sufficient funding and tackle the root causes of homelessness with more council housebuilding and to reduce demand for temporary accommodation." The government was approached for comment. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments