London councils spend £90m monthly on homeless temporary accommodation

The councils say they are collectively spending the £90m per month putting people up in emergency housing, including hostels

Councils in London are spending £90m per month on temporary accommodation for homeless people - up by almost 40% last year, according to new data.

Figures from the London Councils umbrella group suggest one in 50 people in the capital are homeless and living in temporary accommodation.

The councils warned more boroughs could declare effective bankruptcy without more government support.

The government said it had committed £352m between 2023 and 2025.

London Councils is a cross-party local government association representing the capital's 32 borough councils and the City of London.

Its latest figures show "skyrocketing rates of homelessness", it said, with more than 175,000 people in the capital thought to be in temporary accommodation, equivalent to one in 50.

The figure also included 85,000 children - suggesting, on average, at least one homeless child in every London classroom, the organisation added.

Its data also suggests the number of people reporting as homeless in London increased by 14.5% between September 2022 and September 2023.

Councillor Darren Rodwell, its executive member for regeneration, housing and planning, urged the government to "boost funding" to help the boroughs.

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Mr Rodwell said homelessness was devastating for those involved and created unsustainable costs to council budgets, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He added: "Boroughs work hard to house homeless Londoners. However, London's ballooning temporary accommodation bill is a critical danger to boroughs' financial stability.

'Bankruptcy risk'

"If things go on the way they are, it's no exaggeration to say these enormous costs pose a bankruptcy risk."

He called on ministers to lift the "unfair" cap on the money councils can receive from the government to subsidise temporary accommodation spending, which is currently tied to benefit rates from 2011 and no longer reflects costs.

"Ending the unfair cap on housing benefit subsidy rates for temporary accommodation would relieve much of the pressure on boroughs' resources, helping us balance the books while providing homelessness support to everyone who needs it," he added.

Since 2010, the number of London households in temporary accommodation has almost doubled - from 36,000 in March 2010 to 63,000 in September 2023, according to London Councils' latest data.

The main causes are thought to be the fast-rising cost of living and turbulence in London's private rented sector, alongside the shortage of affordable housing.

A spokesman at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the government was committed to "preventing homelessness before it occurs".

"We are giving councils over £1bn through the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years, including £352m for London between 2023 and 2025."

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