Herefordshire: Surge in number of homeless people in hotels

Herefordshire Council said officers were working to procure more temporary accommodation

There has been a surge in the amount of residents having to be put up in hotels amid a shortfall in other emergency accommodation, a council reports.

Herefordshire Council has tracked an 18-month spike in the measure as it seeks to offer temporary accommodation to those who find themselves with nowhere to stay.

Between July and September, the council spent more than £126,000 in this way.

Premier Inn and Travelodge have been the providers.

A council spokesperson said the authority was responding to pressures on other housing provision including a lack of affordable private sector housing, which in turn was meeting a rise in the number of those seeking help.

Other areas of the West Midlands have reported a similar experience.

A shortage in accommodation in Herefordshire was also linked by the council to the UK's support of refugees from war-torn Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The authority said it expected there would be more properties for residents being made available soon via government funding, and council staff would continue to procure further short-term accommodation solutions.

A Travelodge spokesperson said the company was working with the local authority and that all parties understood it was a temporary arrangement.

Premier Inn was also approached for comment.

Herefordshire Council has recently awarded a £370,000 contract to refurbish and furnish up to 50 homes for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees through government resettlement schemes.