Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in how many instances local authorities have exceeded the six-week limit for using bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and how many local authorities have so exceeded that limit in that same period.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief in England. These are published at a local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics

England has a strong homelessness safety net, providing protection to the most vulnerable in our society so they always have a roof over their heads.

In 2011, we changed the law so that councils can place families in decent and affordable private rented homes. This now means homeless households should not have to wait as long for settled accommodation.

The law is also clear that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in Bed and Breakfast (B&B) in an emergency and then for no longer than 6 weeks.

Our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness sector, is supporting councils throughout England and providing targeted challenge. There are some councils who are successfully reducing the number and length of time families are spending in B&B accommodation; we expect areas in similar situations to follow their example.