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Councils spent £3.5bn on temporary accommodation in last five years


Almost two thirds of the £3.5bn (61 per cent)


has been spent in London, while 85 per cent of the increase in costs since 2011/12 also occurred there. Just 10 London boroughs accounted for two thirds of the total increase in spending over the past four years.


Spending


Scotland spent more on temporary accommodation (£750m) than England when London is excluded (£578m). Total spending by Scottish councils has remained fairly consistent since 2011/12, at around £150m a year. While the number of homeless people in


Scotland has fallen slightly in recent years, a lack of housing stock is leaving families staying in temporary accommodation for longer. In Wales £45m was spent over the period,


homeless families with emergency and temporary housing. In the five years since 2010/11, the annual


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cost has risen 43 per cent with councils spending £851m on temporary housing in 2015 alone. Over the period the total sum amounted to £3.5bn. The money has been spent on bed and breakfasts hotels, hostels and private rented accommodation. Homeless charity Crisis said the number of


people in temporary accommodation was rising at an "alarming rate", while the Local Government Association said the costs were "unsustainable". Most of the cost - and the increase - has


occurred in the overheated London housing market, figures obtained by the BBC through Freedom of Information Act inquiries show.


esearch by the BBC has uncovered a huge increase in the money being spent by local authorities on providing


with annual spending decreasing by 26 per cent over the five years from £9m to £7m. The fall in Wales coincides with a change in


policy in the country that has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of households accepted as homeless, with councils working harder to prevent tenancies ending. In 2014 Wales passed a Housing Act that put


more responsibility on councils to prevent homelessness rather than placing people in temporary accommodation. "More and more people are finding


themselves in desperate circumstances," said Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis. "Prevention is better than cure, and for homeless people this is especially so. It has already been shown to work in Wales. We now need similar change in England. "The Homelessness Reduction Bill currently


making its way through Parliament aims to do just that." The data collected by the BBC shows the housing crisis is most apparent in England


Landlords test efficiencies


A new set of efficiency measures is due to be trialled from January allowing ‘true’ comparisons in social landlord performance. The measures cover a range of services


including tenant satisfaction, housing supply, repairs and maintenance and operating margins have been developed on a voluntary basis over the past year. The group’s work has been co-ordinated by


the Home Group and supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the NHF, G15 and the Placeshapers Group. Around one hundred housing associations of


different sizes from across the country are expected to take part in the trial.


Home Group chief executive Mark Henderson


said the group was “very keen to get something that measured apples and apples, not apples and pears”. They hope the measures will allow social


landlords and other stakeholders to make meaningful comparisons of performance, identify areas for improvement and provide evidence of achievements, including efficiency savings. Mr Henderson said it is important to


stress the metrics are “for us and by us”. Associations will be assessed relative to their size and the metrics will not “prejudice either a large or a small housing association”, he added.


12 | HMM January 2017 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


“Just 10 London boroughs accounted for two thirds of the total increase in spending in the past four years”


where councils, including those in London, have seen their costs rise by almost 60 per cent.


Subsidies


While councils will be refunded for some of the costs – for instance through housing benefit or by charging some tenants rent for their temporary properties –many local authorities say they are increasingly having to subsidise temporary accommodation. The Local Government Association, which


represents councils in England and Wales, said "Many councils are struggling to cope with rising homelessness and to find suitable accommodation for those in need. "The increasing use of temporary


accommodation is not only financially unsustainable for councils but is making it increasingly difficult for them to spend money on preventing homelessness, and is disruptive for those families placed in such accommodation." A spokesman for the Department for


Communities and Local Government said "Time spent in temporary accommodation ensures people have a roof over their head and the number of households in temporary accommodation is well below the 2004 peak. "This government has invested £500m to


tackle homelessness - including prevention funding and £40m for councils to help rough sleepers. We are also backing Bob Blackman's Homelessness Reduction Bill, which will also provide vital support for many more people."


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