Spending by councils in England on temporary accommodation has risen by more than 1,000% over the past 13 years, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).
The LGA said local authorities had spent almost £6bn on temporary accommodation since 2011/12, with more than a third of the total – £2.2bn – spent in the past two years.
Published as the LGA’s Annual Conference is underway in Bournemouth, the figures come as councils face growing demand for homelessness support and increasing pressure on their budgets.
The analysis found spending on temporary accommodation increased by 1,077% between 2011/12 and 2024/25.
While London accounted for the highest level of spending, costs increased across every region of England, with some areas outside the capital seeing faster growth from a lower base.
The LGA said rising spending on temporary accommodation was leaving councils with less money for other local services. It said councils wanted to invest more in preventing homelessness and delivering affordable homes.
What’s more, the association said councils were increasingly out of pocket because the subsidy they receive from the Department for Work and Pensions is based on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates set in 2011.
Although households receive their full housing benefit entitlement, councils can recover only up to 90% of the 2011 LHA rate rather than current market rates. The LGA said the gap between what councils spend and what they can reclaim has widened as rents and demand for temporary accommodation have increased.
Alongside the figures, the LGA published a homelessness position paper calling for increased government support for temporary accommodation, Local Housing Allowance to keep pace with local rents, a review of the shared accommodation rate and benefit cap, and greater investment in homelessness prevention.
Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Chair of the LGA, said: ‘Temporary accommodation is a huge leak in council budgets that needs to be patched quickly and, at its heart, transform the lives of families and children across the country.
‘While the government’s focus on prevention has been encouraging, we need both swift action and long-term solutions from the next prime minister and their administration.’
‘The way that councils are reimbursed by central government is not working, and it’s impacting the entire country due to the knock-on effect on budgets and all other services,’ she continued. ‘The increasing use of temporary accommodation is not only financially unsustainable for councils but is hugely disruptive for individuals and families placed in them.’
Image: Bernd Dittrich/UnSplash
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