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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what communications they have had with local authorities in England and Wales about (1) the availability, and (2) the funding, of (a) temporary, and (b) emergency, accommodation.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide accommodation for households that are homeless and defined as being in priority need, unintentionally homeless and eligible for assistance. They are obliged to secure temporary accommodation for the household in the first instance until suitable long-term accommodation can be secured.

Local authorities provide updates on how many households are living in temporary accommodation to Government via H-CLIC, the new quarterly data return on local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation. According to that data, in England, the current total number of households in temporary accommodation is 86,130. Of these households, 7,110 were in bed and breakfast accommodation and 22,360 were in nightly paid, privately managed accommodation.

In December 2019 we announced the allocation of £263 million in funding for 2020/21 to local authorities designed to support them to deliver services to tackle homelessness. This is an uplift of £23 million on the previous year. The purpose of this funding is to give local authorities more control and flexibility in managing homelessness pressures and supporting those who at risk of homelessness, including providing them with temporary accommodation.

As housing is a devolved issue, we would advise you to contact the Welsh Government for information about temporary accommodation in Wales.