Town's homeless children issue under the spotlight

One in 28 children in Hastings are homeless in temporary accommodation, according to Shelter

Hastings has the highest number of children in temporary accommodation outside of London, a homelessness charity has said.

Shelter found one in 28 children who are homeless in the East Sussex town are in temporary accommodation.

The charity has said more than 151,000 children in England are homeless in temporary accommodation, a 15% increase in the past year.

According to Shelter, other seaside towns such as Brighton and Eastbourne are also "experiencing significant levels of child homelessness".

'Horrifying' situation

Eastbourne has one in 46 homeless children in temporary accommodation while Brighton & Hove has one in 35.

Deborah Garvie, policy manager for Shelter, said: "It's really quite horrifying to be homeless in certain types of temporary accommodation."

Ms Garvie explained the accommodation can be "extremely insecure" with families being moved on with just 24 hours' notice and "often moved miles away" to different areas impacting children with their schooling.

A Hastings Borough Council spokesperson said: "Our housing team is working hard to reduce the number of households currently in temporary accommodation with private landlords.

"This includes expanding our housing acquisition programme which means families in temporary accommodation have a council owned property, which is more affordable for us and them and with their own front door, to call home while they find a permanent home."

IKEA featured mould and safety hazards in their 'unwelcome' doll's house to show the conditions of temporary accommodation

Working with Shelter, IKEA has created a doll's house to show the living conditions many children face.

The houses include details of mould, infestation and cramped conditions.

Ms Garvie said "most people are aware of rough sleeping and homelessness" but cannot see the families hidden from view in "hellish" temporary accommodation.

Hiliary Jenkins from IKEA UK and Ireland said doll houses "often evoke a lot of joy" but for this campaign "when you take a closer look, you really see the reality that these children are living".

IKEA and Shelter are campaigning to raise awareness of "hidden homelessness" and are calling on the government to commit to building 90,000 social homes every year for the next 10 years.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "Homelessness levels are far too high and we know this has a devastating impact on those affected, including children.

"We are taking action by setting up a dedicated inter-ministerial group, chaired by the deputy prime minister, that brings together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness.

"We will prevent homelessness by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation."

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