An aerial view of terraced houses in south west London
A RECORD 128,000 households are living in temporary accommodation in England, new research has revealed.
The analysis by the Resolution Foundation revealed a staggering 160 per cent increase, with the number rising from 50,000 in 2010.
The think tank highlighted that single-parent families are disproportionately affected, making up 35 per cent of those in temporary accommodation, despite representing 16 per cent of British households.
Over half of families — some 72,000 — living in temporary accommodation are in London.
Newham had the highest rate, with one in 20 households there living in temporary accommodation.
The analysis revealed that local councils spend £2.3 billion on temporary accommodation, which costs 2.4 times more per household than the government’s spending on housing benefit.
It cites a lack of social housing as a key factor, noting that “affordable” or “intermediate” rentals, where rent can be as much as 80 per cent of market rates, have increasingly replaced social rent.
Social rent, which is usually limited to around 50 per cent of market rates, accounted for 87 per cent of below-market rent homes in England in 1992-93. But they accounted for just 16 per cent in 2023-24.
Another factor is the shortfall between rents and Local Housing Allowance (LHA).
LHA rates have gone up by only 36 per cent since 2013, while private rents have increased by 54 per cent.
This means that LHA only covers full housing costs for around 48 per cent of privately renting families on universal credit.
The government has announced plans to build 1.5 million new homes, and allocate 60 per cent of its £39 billion Affordable Homes Programme towards social rent.
Camron Aref-Adib, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said the plans are “welcome”, but that the “crisis is deep-rooted and cannot be fixed quickly.”
“The fall in planning approvals for housing developments to a record low shows the scale of the challenge the government is confronting as it seeks to ease the impact of housing pressures on living standards.”
The government has been contacted for comment.
