Tens of thousands of children to spend Christmas in 'temporary housing'

One in every 84 primary school-aged children will be homeless in England this Christmas, according to new figures from the charity Shelter.

This rises to one in 24 in London – the equivalent of a child in every classroom.

A record 123,000 families are living in temporary housing in England, including 160,000 children.

Last month it was also revealed that the number of homeless children in the whole UK was the highest since records began in 2004.

What is temporary accomodation?

Temporary accommodation is a form of homelessness.

It includes people living in flats and houses but also in hostels or bed and breakfasts, also known as B&Bs.

Because these types of accommodation can often be quite small, and may mean a family has to share things like bathrooms and kitchen spaces with other people they don't know, the law says families should only be in B&Bs or hostels for a maximum of six weeks.

However government data showed that one in five families (21%) in B&Bs and hostels have been there for over a year - much longer than the six week limit.

Another issue facing families is that even when they are offered housing it can be a long way away from their schools, places of work or family support.

One of the main reasons given for homelessness is the price of buying or renting houses.

According to figures from the housing charity Shelter, London and the south east of England are the areas with the longest stays in temporary accommodation.

In parts of London the number of children affected is as high as one in every nine.

"That's having an absolutely devastating impact on their health, their mental health and their education," Mairi MacRae, head of policy at Shelter says.

What have the Government said?

The government has promised to spend more money on temporary accommodation and in tackling homelessness

The government says it has taken over after many years where not enough has been done about homelessness, and not enough houses have been built.

It has promised to spend one billion pounds in England over the next year tackling the issue, with over £600 million being spent on temporary accommodation and on trying to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place.

It also says it will build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.

The homelessness charity, Shelter, says the extra money is welcome in the short term, but much more needs to be done to work on a long-term solution.