A quarter of councils in England spent £1 in every £20 of their Core Spending Power (CPS) on temporary accommodation alone in 2022-23, Generation Rent research has revealed.
Of the 249 local councils analysed in the research, 59 (24%) spent at least £1 in every £20 of their Core Spending Power on temporary accommodation.
Of these, 8% spent at least £1 in every £10 of their CSP in 2022-3 on households and families in temporary accommodation, waiting for long-term homes.
These findings emerged as the Government shelved the Renters (Reform) Bill in the face of the July General Election, which spent the past year making its way through Parliament.
Generation Rent called on the next Government to bring about the Bill as a matter of urgency to protect households and families from homelessness.
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “The shocking strain that the cost of temporary accommodation now has on local councils is totally preventable.
“Where once people were able to find safe and affordable homes, we are now living in total insecurity, within a cruel and broken system.
“Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions remain a leading cause of homelessness in our country.
“Now, more than ever, private renters need a new law to end these unfair evictions and grant us the proper protections we need to keep us safe from homelessness.
“After many delays and watering-down of the Bill, the government scrapped the Renters (Reform) Bill after calling the election.
“The Bill was already not in a fit state to offer renters the vital protections that they need, yet further delays mean that renters will continue to be driven into temporary accommodation.
“It is now a matter of urgency that the next government introduce these long-overdue reforms to make renting work for the millions of private renters and the local communities being saddled with spiralling temporary accommodation costs.”
