DCN, LGA, and Crisis demand five urgent measures to support people in danger of homelessness and protect council finance
The Government has been urged to take swift and decisive action to stem the temporary accommodation crisis in a letter by five of the biggest organisations campaigning on the issue.
The letter from the District Councils’ Network (DCN), Local Government Association (LGA), Crisis, the County Councils Network and the East of England Local Government Association comes as official figures reveal further alarming growth in temporary accommodation use.
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government data released today reveal an alarming increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation, rising by 12.3% over the year to March to 117,450 households.
There was also a 14.7% increase in families with children living in temporary accommodation, now totalling 74,530 households.
District council spending on temporary accommodation has increased by 200% in just five years and now takes up to half of some councils’ budgets. Councils would rather invest in new high-quality, permanent housing which enables people to put down roots in their communities than spend such vast sums dealing with the consequences of homelessness.
In response to the newly published figures, the five organisations issued an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, calling for immediate action to tackle the root causes of homelessness and alleviate the unsustainable pressure on local councils.
You can read details of the five actions we seek in the letter attached.
The collaboration brings together the on-the-ground expertise of district councils, the broader local government perspective of the LGA, county councils’ social care specialism, and the specialised knowledge of Crisis to tackle this critical issue.
Cllr Hannah Dalton, District Councils’ Network housing spokesperson, said: “High use of temporary accommodation is the result of national policy failure which forces councils to expensively deal with the consequences of homelessness rather than prevent it in the first place. We seek extra powers to ensure sufficient affordable, good quality, secure homes are built in the first place, so we’re no longer reliant on often low-quality, high-cost temporary accommodation.
“Temporary accommodation prevents people from putting roots down in their community and it leads to the disruption of education as children end up moving from school to school. It’s also financially crippling councils, taking up to 30% of some districts’ budgets and using up money we’d far rather spend on supporting people to avoid homelessness.
“Councils are not receiving the funding they need to cover temporary accommodation costs – we urge ministers to unfreeze the Housing Benefit subsidy cap so it reflects the cost of providing accommodation today. However, our focus needs to be on finding longer-term solutions.
“We need action to lift the barriers which prevent councils from building and retaining council housing, and which thwart us from ensuring that homes affordable for everyone in our community are built.
“Overcoming homelessness once and for all would dramatically reduce the ill-health, low school attainment and lack of productivity associated with homelessness, reducing the burden on other public services and improving people’s lives.”
Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, said: “Our housing and homelessness system are broken, and councils are paying a hefty price for years of inaction. It’s unacceptable that we have hundreds of thousands of children growing up having never known a home of their own home. Their young lives wracked by uncertainty and insecurity which risks untold damage to their health, education and life chances.
“Councils are in between a rock and a hard place as they try to support families but without adequate levels of social housing, and proper investment, many are being pushed towards financial ruin. To pull councils back from the brink, the Autumn Budget must contain increased funding so they can continue to help people who need it most. But if we’re going to tackle the root cause of this crisis, it’s critical that alongside the positive steps on social housing the Westminster Government establishes a Unit for Ending Homelessness which is focused on ensuring we become a place where everyone has a safe place to call home.”
The letter text:
Dear Angela,
We are writing to express our deep concern about the homelessness crisis in England.
The latest homelessness statistics released today reveal an alarming increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation, rising by 12.3% over the year to March to 117,450 households. Even more troubling is the 14.7% increase in families with children living in temporary accommodation, now totalling 74,530 households.
The human impact of this crisis is enormous. Families in temporary accommodation face huge challenges including disrupted education, health issues, and difficulty holding down a job. Homelessness undermines people’s lives and life chances.
The financial impact on councils is unsustainable. Many district councils now spend between 20% and 50% of their total net budget on temporary accommodation. Total district council spending on temporary accommodation has skyrocketed by more than 200% in just five years. Councils across the country, including unitary authorities in county and rural areas, are facing these acute pressures. Government data shows that £1.74 billion was spent on temporary accommodation between April 2022 and March 2023 – an increase of 9% on the previous year.
Crisis reports that this financial pressure is impacting on local authorities’ ability to prevent homelessness, as resources are taken up with crisis intervention.
The National Audit Office’s recent report concludes unambiguously that the current approach to homelessness is not delivering value for money. It is not tackling the causes of homelessness and it is forcing councils to resort to expensive, sometimes inadequate, overnight accommodation in hotels and B&Bs.
There have been some steps in the right direction. In particular the decision to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance rates last autumn has made a difference. But we urge your Government to go much further and take radical action to end this crisis:
- Commit to annually uprate Local Housing Allowance rates to ensure they keep pace with private rents.
- Remove the housing benefit subsidy cap to fully fund councils to provide decent temporary accommodation.
- Commit to long-term investment to deliver 100,000 homes for social rent per year for the next 15 years.
- Create a substantial capital fund to enable councils to rapidly build or acquire genuinely affordable housing for people at risk of homelessness.
- Establish a Unit for Ending Homelessness, backed by leadership from the heart of government, to lead on developing a comprehensive, cross-departmental strategy to prevent and reduce homelessness, with clear targets and adequate long-term funding for prevention.
Without swift and decisive action, we fear that more councils will be forced to cut vital preventative services, creating a vicious cycle that will only exacerbate the homelessness crisis and lead to greater costs for the taxpayer.
We stand ready to work with you to implement effective solutions to this national emergency. The time for half-measures has passed. A paradigm shift is needed to redirect resources from mitigating homelessness to preventing it entirely. By guaranteeing every person access to secure, stable housing, we can break the cycle of homelessness and create lasting change, ultimately saving both lives and resources.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Hannah Dalton, Housing Spokesperson, District Councils’ Network; Leader of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair, Local Government Association; Leader, Cheshire West & Chester Council
Matt Downie, Chief Executive, Crisis
Cllr Richard Clewer, Housing and Planning Spokesperson, County Councils Network; Leader of Wiltshire Council
Cllr Jacqui Taylor, Chair, Improving Outcomes for People and Communities Panel, East of England Local Government Association
