The Hidden Costs of Homelessness: how the cost of living in temporary accommodation is pushing families deeper into poverty
Executive summary
“How do some people deal with the extra costs [of living in temporary accommodation]? Well some people don’t. They go without.” - Adviser
Temporary accommodation is a vital lifeline to the record numbers of people we’re helping with homelessness. But with demand growing, the costs of housing homeless people in their area are piling pressure on local councils. This is the sharp end of the housing crisis. High costs push councils to house more and more families in unsuitable, unsafe accommodation, often far from where they live. Our frontline insights from over 100 advisers and 200 cases show this is in turn driving high costs for people who have already had their lives turned upside down.
Temporary accommodation should provide short-term housing while more permanent accommodation is found. But many people find themselves trapped for years, facing costs that stretch their budgets, push them into debt and, ultimately, make it harder for them to leave and find a settled home.
Our advisers’ insights show that people face high costs at every stage of accessing and living in temporary accommodation:
Moving in and setting up - Increasing reliance on out-of-area placements mean families often have to travel a long way to reach accommodation, leaving their community and support networks behind. Families then face significant start-up costs once they’ve arrived to make the accommodation it liveable and safe - buying basic white goods and carrying out repairs to remove health hazards.
An even higher cost of living - The daily cost of living in temporary accommodation is high and stretches tight budgets further. Shortfalls in local authorities’ funding mean households face high rent costs, while other essentials like food and transport cost more. Mounting living costs negatively affect work prospects, children’s education, and access to healthcare.
No way out - These extra costs, and the failure of support systems to provide enough help, push families into debt, making it very difficult for them to leave temporary accommodation and secure a settled home in either the social sector, or the increasingly unaffordable private rented sector.
Recommendations
The government has promised to ‘fix the system’, acknowledging that the numbers trapped in temporary accommodation are unsustainable. In the long term, the Government's Affordable Homes Plan should increase much-needed social housing, enabling more people to secure affordable settled homes. The Renters’ Rights Bill, if successfully implemented and enforced, will offer more security to private renters.
But there's more the Government can do quickly to address the harms experienced by families living in temporary accommodation right now. The upcoming Child Poverty Strategy, Homelessness Strategy, and the Autumn Budget provide vital opportunities to do so.
Our insights show action is needed to:
Strengthen preventive measures to reduce the number of people made homeless. Government could start to address this by uprating Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile in the Autumn Budget and improving support for advice and early intervention in the Homelessness Strategy.
Address poor standards in temporary accommodation, by implementing the extension of the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) and Awaab’s law to temporary accommodation as soon as possible. Government could also consider ways to work closely with local authorities to improve the quality of temporary accommodation.
Provide better support with the extra costs families living in temporary accommodation face. This could include more support for local authorities to keep them in their local area and reduce the cost of accommodation to households.
Tackling the high costs facing people living in temporary accommodation is crucial to prevent further financial harm to those at the sharpest end of the living standards crisis. Our advisers' testimony is clear - action is needed to prevent families living in temporary accommodation being pushed deeper into poverty, locked out of securing a settled home, and experiencing disruption to their education, work, health, and social relationships.