More than 100,000 children will spend Christmas homeless in London: ‘It’s heart-breaking’

More than 100,000 children will wake up on Christmas Day homeless in temporary accommodation in London – the highest number on record.

Analysis from cross-party group London Councils sounded the alarm on the English capital’s homelessness crisis, with 210,000 Londoners living in temporary accommodation, equivalent to one in every 50 people in the city.

That includes 102,000 children – up 8% in a year and 35% since 2021 and equivalent to one child in every London classroom.

Cllr Grace Williams, London Councils’ executive member for housing and regeneration, said: “It is heartbreaking that so many children in the capital are homeless and set to spend Christmas in temporary accommodation.

“London is the epicentre of a national homelessness crisis that has been years in the making, and the situation here is nothing less than an emergency. The impact on children is devastating, and the pressures on local services are unsustainable.”

Across England, homelessness cost councils around £2.8 billion last year and the financial burden is being felt in London.

London accounts for over half of all homeless households in England with boroughs collectively spending £5.5m every day on homelessness.

The chronic shortage of affordable housing in the capital is driving up homelessness but also the costs incurred by boroughs when securing temporary accommodation.

London Councils found the average cost of temporary accommodation in London has risen by 75% over the last five years, compared to a 23% increase in market rents over the same period.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is targeting an end to rough sleeping by 2030 and has previously told Big Issue he doesn’t expect to see street homelessness numbers in London start to fall until 2026.

Khan recently announced a new £3.5 million fund to test new approaches to preventing homelessness in London in a bid to reduce the number of households living in temporary accommodation.

A further £1m fund has been set up to deliver ‘floating hubs’in 17 homelessness hotspot areas around London, providing targeted interventions to support people experiencing homelessness long-term.

London boroughs will also see an uplift in homelessness prevention grant funding as well as £11.7bn of investment in housebuilding through the Labour government’s social and affordable homes programme.

But London Councils have pleaded for more support to deal with the current temporary accommodation bill.

Read more:

• Everything you need to know about Labour’s homelessness strategy
• Is Labour really going to end homelessness?
• Labour’s failure to commit to national Housing First expansion ‘risks thousands losing their home’

It has urged the Labour government to unfreeze the subsidy councils receive through the welfare system for temporary accommodation, which is stuck at 2011 levels.

Councillors have also called for local housing allowance (LHA) rates, which determine the level of housing benefit low-income renters receive, to be raised to cover the bottom 30% of private rented homes.

The government revealed its homelessness strategy last week and the lack of commitment on LHA was cited as a major gap by frontline homelessness charities.

The £3.5bn strategy aims to halve the number of people sleeping rough across England by 2029, end the unlawful use of bed and breakfast accommodation and boost measures to prevent homelessness.

Councillor Williams said: “Boroughs are working hard to support homeless Londoners as best we can, but we need more action at a national level too. We welcome the government’s new homelessness strategy and its focus on a cross-departmental approach to tackling this crisis. It is vital this delivers the policy changes and resources we need to turn the tide on homelessness in the years ahead.”

London Councils’ warning comes just days after Shelter revealed 382,618 people in England will be homeless this Christmas.

A total of 350,490 people are living in temporary accommodation, including 175,025 children. 

“It’s unthinkable that as winter sets in, more than 382,000 people are without a safe place to call home,” said Sarah Elliott, chief executive at Shelter.

“We urge the government to help the families who are homeless right now by ending the freeze on housing benefit. This would immediately lift thousands of children out of temporary accommodation and into a home.”

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