Over 3,000 homeless children stuck in hotels longer than legal limit – a 600% rise in three years

More than 3,000 homeless children have been living in hotels for longer than the six-week legal limit, shocking new research shows – an increase of more than 600% in three years.

The Housing Act bans councils from keeping kids in temporary accommodation for more than six weeks. But as the housing crisis drives councils to the brink, they often can’t find these families other suitable accommodation.

There are currently 5,550 children living in hotels, the analysis from Citizens UK and reveals. Of these, six in ten (3,250) have been there or more than the statutory six-week limit, up from 490 children three years ago.

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The figures are a “national scandal”, said Emmanuel Gotora, assistant director at Citizens UK. “Thousands of children are living in a room for months on end without their basic needs being met,” he warned.

A total of 55 children have died while living in temporary accommodation since 2019, figures released earlier this year show – and a charity told the Big Issue they were “surprised” the figure wasn’t higher.

Temporary accommodation “blights and endangers lives”, Jane Williams, chief executive of the Magpie Project, said in March.

“We see so health many problems in our children including delayed rolling and crawling, malnutrition and gastro-intestinal issues around lack of kitchen facilities, accidents in the home due to unsafe accommodation, bed bugs, scabies, bites by rats, and many, many incidences of respiratory distress and disease due to mould, damp and poor air quality.”

What is temporary accommodation?

If someone presents as homeless, local authorities have a duty to provide them with accommodation.

They are placed in “temporary accommodation” – a term that includes hostels, bed and breakfasts or privately rented accommodation – while they wait for a long-term home. It’s meant to be temporary, but it can last for years.

Across England, more than 150,000 children are living in temporary accommodation. This is the highest figure since records began and represents an increase of more than 24% over the last three years. Outside of London, the increase is a staggering 68%.

Sehrish, a mum-of-four from Peterborough, knows first-hand the impact that such unsuitable accommodation can have. She describes the six months she spent living in hotel temporary accommodation as “one of the hardest things my family and I have had to go through”.

“The basics of living a normal family life, such as the comfort of cooking a homemade meal, was just something we couldn’t do because there were no facilities,” Sehrish said.

“We had to live on takeouts, which was also very expensive. My children, the oldest being 12, had no space to do their homework or play. I worry about the effects this time has had on their mental health.” 

Earlier this year, the Big Issue reported the story of Dareen Nuru. The one-year-old has been hospitalised six times with breathing difficulties due to damp and mould in his family’s temporary accommodation.

Responding to the new research, Emmanuel Gotora called on the government to accelerate the construction of new homes.

“Building good-quality, affordable housing is the long-term answer to temporary accommodation,” he said. “We welcome the government’s recent announcement to unlock brownfield sites across the country but these children cannot wait.” 

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