Children in Temporary Accommodation

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 23 Jul 2025 Parliament page
This short inquiry is scrutinising issues around the quality of temporary accommodation provision and pressures on local authority finances in England. The inquiry considers how children and families in temporary accommodation could be better supported by Government, local authorities, and accommodation providers. Read more
16 Recommendations
8 Conclusions
1 Report
2 Oral sessions
1 Letter
2 Events
Activity timeline 7 events
16 Jun
2025
Report published
3 Apr
2025
Report published
21 Jan
2025
Oral evidence
21 Jan
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
20 Nov
2024
Correspondence
5 Nov
2024
Oral evidence
5 Nov
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions
21 Jan 2025
View on parliament.uk
Oral Evidence
Penny Hobman · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Rushanara Ali MP · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
5 Nov 2024
View on parliament.uk
Oral Evidence
Chris Hancock · Hastings Borough Council Councillor Grace Williams · London Councils Councillor Hannah Dalton · District Councils Network Dr Laura Neilson · Shared Health Foundation Emma Haddad · St Mungo's Francesca Albanese · Crisis Hannah Courtney-Adamson · Rochdale Borough Council Rebecca Walker · CARIS Families
Title HC No. Published Items Response
1st Report - England’s Homeless Children: The crisis in temporar… HC 338 3 Apr 2025 24 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
3 Recommendation Acknowledged
1st Report - England’s Homeless Ch…
Mandate local authorities to conduct mandatory temporary accommodation inspections and publish annual reports.
Some local authorities are not taking sufficient account of the needs of children and families when making decisions on temporary accommodation placements. Many local authorities do not carry out any regular inspections of the conditions in the accommodation they use … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it would consider strengthening the Homelessness Code of Guidance regarding safeguarding considerations for temporary accommodation placements and develop toolkits and practical guidance for placement management, but did not commit to mandatory inspections or additional funding.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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10 Recommendation Acknowledged
1st Report - England’s Homeless Ch…
Require local authorities to report quarterly on out-of-area placements and publish H-CLIC data.
The Government must improve the quality of data on local authorities’ use of out-of-area placements. It should require all local authorities to report to the Department quarterly on instances of out-of-area placements as part of their H-CLIC data report, including … Read more
Government Response
The government highlighted the potential of data linking and stated it is working across departments on programs like ECHILD and BOLD, exploring how these platforms could offer short-term solutions for linking temporary accommodation and pupil data, but did not commit to specific H-CLIC reporting or a public dashboard.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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13 Conclusion Acknowledged
1st Report - England’s Homeless Ch…
Ensure consistent identifiers alert schools and GPs when children move into temporary accommodation.
Currently, schools are not always notified when a pupil becomes homeless or changes school due to a move into temporary accommodation. This prevents schools from offering additional support which those children may require. Similarly, GPs are often unaware that families … Read more
Government Response
The government provided a vague commitment, stating that the homelessness strategy will provide more detail on balancing responsibilities and accountability between central and local government regarding children in temporary accommodation, without addressing the specific recommendation for a formalised notification system for schools and GPs.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
1st Report - England’s Homeless Ch…
Ringfencing of Homelessness Prevention Grant funding may detrimentally impact some local authorities.
We welcome the Government’s decision to increase homelessness funding for 2025/26, including the £192.9 million uplift to the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG). However, the decision to ringfence 49% of HPG funding for activities to prevent and relieve homelessness may be … Read more
Government Response
The government defended the 49% ringfence on the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG), explaining it was based on historical local authority spend and stating the HPG was not intended to cover all temporary accommodation costs, but committed to monitoring local authority spend.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Government Response AI assessment · 24 of 16 classified
Accepted 5
Accepted in Part 2
Acknowledged 4
Deferred 10
Not Addressed 1
Rejected 2
Total 16 recs + 8 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
20 Nov 2024 To committee Letter from the National Residential Landlords Association to the Chair dated 14 November 2024 concerning children in temporary accommodation
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