90,000 children to spend Christmas in temporary accommodation

Nearly 90,000 London children are set to spend Christmas in temporary accommodation organised by their local council, London Councils has warned.

New figures released by the local government group show 62,670 London households are homeless and living in temporary accommodation.

The last time there were more London households in temporary accommodation was 2005, when numbers peaked only slightly higher at 63,800.

By 2011, this figure had fallen to 35,620 but has been steadily rising since.

According to London Councils, the capital accounts for two thirds of England’s total temporary accommodation numbers.

The analysis also shows that spending on homelessness and rough sleeping in the capital will rise by an extra £108m in 2020/21 due to Covid-19.

And even prior to the pandemic, London boroughs’ expenditure on homelessness was expected to rise to a total of £1bn by 2021/22.

London boroughs collectively spend approximately £750m on temporary accommodation each year. Expenditure on temporary accommodation is the most significant strain on boroughs’ homelessness budgets, accounting for around 80% of their total homelessness costs.

‘It’s hugely distressing to see homelessness in London approaching its worst-ever levels,’ said London Councils’ executive member for housing and planning, Cllr Darren Rodwell.

‘With almost 90,000 children in the capital living in homeless households and set to spend Christmas in temporary accommodation, it’s obvious we can’t go on like this. London faces the most severe crisis in the country but homelessness is a major national challenge and the government must redouble its efforts on getting these numbers down.

‘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.’

Photo Credit – MadalinCalita (Pixabay)