GD&TĐ – The UK Housing Minister said that the country is facing a housing crisis with more than 150,000 children living in temporary accommodation.
Official statistics released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on August 8 showed that as of March 2024, there were 151,630 children living in dormitories or bed and breakfasts (small, low-cost accommodation).
“We are facing the most serious housing crisis in living memory, and homelessness remains at record levels. This is a national scandal. Urgent action is needed to fix this,” said Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.
Dave Robinson, assistant chief executive at housing provider Riverside, told the BBC that there are now more homeless children in the UK than the combined populations of places like Ipswich (151,565), Blackpool (149,070) and York (141,685).
More homeless children have been living in temporary accommodation since the programme began in 2004, and the number has increased by 15% since March 2023, according to government figures.
“B&Bs are only meant to be used by families in emergencies, for a maximum of six weeks, but thousands of families with children have been there for much longer. They are spending months if not years living there, and they are not able to put down roots,” Polly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, told the BBC.
“The high use of temporary accommodation is the result of a failure in national policy, forcing councils to spend money dealing with the consequences of homelessness rather than preventing it in the first place,” said Hannah Dalton, housing spokeswoman for the County Council Network.
“The government is now working with local leaders to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness for good,” said Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and land.
As part of the strategy, Ms Rayner promised “the biggest increase in social and affordable housing construction in a generation”, abolishing no-fault evictions, and spending millions of pounds to provide homes for the most at-risk families.
There was no mention of immigration and its role in the housing crisis.
There have been dozens of anti-immigration riots across the UK over the past week, sparked by a mass stabbing at a schoolgirl dance event in Southport.
Prime Minister Starmer’s government has vowed to “not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities”, and deployed a “standing army” of officers to quell rioters.