HOMELESSNESS charities have urged the government to invest in social housing after new figures showed council spending on temporary accommodation in England has nearly doubled since 2019.

Government figures revealed that councils spent £2.3 billion on temporary accommodation between April 2023 and March 2024 — up 29 per cent in the last year alone.

More than half of that — £1.34bn — went on unsuitable and expensive forms such as nightly paid accommodation or bed and breakfasts.

The amount sent on this type increased by 55 per cent compared with the previous year.

Crisis chief executive Matt Downie said: “It is unfathomable that councils are spending billions on keeping households homeless in often damp and mouldy temporary accommodation instead of on new homes, all because of a decades-long failure to build the social housing we need.”

The charity is calling on the government to ensure councils receive adequate funding in the upcoming Autumn Budget, make sure housing benefit covers the cheapest third of rents and in the longer term, invest in social and affordable housebuilding.

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: “Rather than sinking billions into temporary solutions every year, the government must invest in genuinely affordable social homes and support councils so they can start building them. 

“Building 90,000 social homes a year for 10 years would not only end homelessness, they would relieve the pressure on private renting and pay for themselves through generating new jobs and creating savings for the NHS and benefits bill.”

A record 117,450 households were living in temporary accommodation as of March — a 12 per cent increase on the previous year.