Council spends £2.5m on temporary homeless housing

Sandwell Council said 220 households were currently in temporary accommodation

A council spent £2.5m on placing homeless people in bed and breakfasts and other temporary accommodation last year.

A report from Sandwell Council said there were 220 households currently in temporary accommodation, up from 44 in March 2021.

As a result, the Black Country authority is forking out £2.1m more than it did three years ago, with an increasing amount being spent on housing people in B&Bs.

A proposal to secure up to 100 rented properties, in order to end the council’s reliance on B&Bs, is due to be discussed by its cabinet on Wednesday.

Sandwell Council has converted some of its property into temporary accommodation in recent years, a move which has saved it £1.2m, according to the cabinet report.

But the authority still spent £2.5m on temporary accommodation in the last financial year, compared to £400,000 in 2021.

About £500 is spent on average every week on each B&B room, with housing benefits covering about a fifth of the bill and the council paying for the remaining £400.

The proposal to secure private rented accommodation would cost Sandwell Council about £315 per week instead of £400, saving the authority £442,000 a year, the report said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.