Figures from the government and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show the trend is unfortunately similar in the majority of England’s cities.
This morning the BBC published new research – obtained from FOR requests sent to Sunderland City Council – which found homeless households in Sunderland spent around a month, on average, in temporary accommodation last year, compared to just 11.7 days in 2020.
What’s more, the data was likewise discovered to be a jump on 2023 figures, which saw people living in such conditions for approximately 22.5 days.
The local authority have since claimed a vast number of factors have led to the increase, including the size of families, support needs and the availability of suitable housing.
What’s more, Tracey Guy, manager of the North East branch of leading homelessness charity Shelter, said the rise is sadly unsurprising. She revealed Sunderland have experienced a huge growth in the number of children growing up in temporary accommodation over the last five years.
‘Decades of chronic underinvestment in genuinely affordable social rent homes has left our housing system on its knees,’ she said.
In keeping with the melancholic tone, the latest findings from the government illustrate that more households classed as homeless in cities across England are spending longer periods in temporary accommodation. For Sunderland 150 households were housed in temporary accommodation in December 2024 which included 118 children.
Against this backdrop, in December 2023 the figures saw 90 households including 44 children in temporary accommodation. However, in 2022 the stats were even lower with 55 households in temporary accommodation, including 30 children.
In response to the growing homelessness epidemic, which is also causing significant problems in London – the government have pledged to invest almost £1billion in services to help families secure a more stable place to live.
‘Alongside this, we are developing a long-term strategy to tackle homelessness, driving up housing standards and delivering the biggest boost in social and affordable homes in a generation,’ a government spokesperson said.
Photo by Ryan Booth via UnSplash
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