Inside Housing – Home – Temporary accommodation space guidance not suitable for young children, says report

“You should look at it with that transitory nature in mind,” she said. “To make these [sites] deliverable, achievable for local authorities, we need to look at them as a stepping stone into permanent accommodation.”
The report urged councils to highlight the need for new temporary accommodation in their local plans, to encourage development of purpose built stock.
“Housing associations need to move into this space in a much more proactive way,” Ms MacLaren added. “I don’t understand why there is so much money going to private landlords, rather than housing associations, seeing this as part of their duty and their need within their affordable housing provision.”
Figures published last month by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) showed that English councils spent £1.74bn on temporary accommodation between April 2022 and March 2023.
Spending on temporary accommodation has risen 62% in the past five years. While £565m, a third of last year’s total bill, was spent on emergency B&Bs and hostels, which are considered to be the types of temporary accommodation with the poorest standards.
The authors of the research plan to deliver a set of new design guidance directly to local authorities’ planning and homelessness departments.
A DLUHC spokesperson said: “Councils must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable for families, who have a right to appeal if they think it does not meet their household’s needs. That’s why we have given councils £1bn over three years to help them tackle homelessness, targeted to areas where it is needed most.
“Government has been clear that the long-term use of B&B accommodation for families with children is inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this practice.
“Our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness sector, provide support to help local authorities to end the placement of families in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks.”
Cllr Darren Rodwell, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “Councils want to create great places for current and future generations. This includes building homes that are accessible, spacious, eco-friendly, affordable to heat and easily adaptable with good transport links and access to community spaces.
“However, funding pressures and a shortage of social housing means the number of households living in temporary accommodation has risen by 89% over the past decade at a significant cost to councils.
“We are calling on the government to provide long-term funding certainty to councils so they can build 100,000 high-quality, climate-friendly social homes a year.”



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