Councils have spent £1.7 billion on temporary accommodation in just one year, according to new government figures.
The latest figures reveal a 9% increase in spending in just one year. It has increased by 62% in the last five years. One third of the total was spent on emergency B&Bs and hostels – £565 million.
Can’t keep throwing money at grim B&Bs
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, called the situation “outrageous”, accusing the government of throwing money at “grim B&Bs. Not only is £1.7 billion spent on temporary accommodation outrageous, but it’s also illogical. We simply can’t keep throwing money at grim B&Bs and hostels instead of focusing on helping families into a home. With a general election on the horizon, no one can afford to continue to ignore a crisis of this magnitude.”
Decades of failure to build social homes
She added "the housing benefit freeze has taken its toll on low-income families. Housing benefits should cover the bottom third of local rents, but the government has kept it frozen since 2020 while private rents have skyrocketed. This decision combined with the decades of failure to build enough social homes has meant that families can’t find anywhere affordable to live and as a result are forced into homelessness in cramped and unsuitable temporary accommodation, often miles away from their children’s schools and support networks.”
Determined to prevent homelessness
A government spokesperson told the Evening Standard “we are determined to prevent homelessness before it occurs and have given £2 billion over three years to help local authorities tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, targeted to areas where it is needed most. Councils have a duty to ensure no family is left without a roof over its head and government funding can be used to help people find a new home, work with landlords to prevent evictions, or to pay for temporary accommodation. We are already investing in more social and affordable housing and, since 2010, have delivered over 659,500 new affordable homes, including over 166,300 homes for social rent.”
Social housing complaints soar amid poor conditions and safety issues
The Housing Ombudsman has published a challenging picture of social housing complaints with a 323% increase in severe maladministration findings against social housing landlords. The Annual Complaints Review also reveals a 28% increase in complaints received by the Ombudsman last year, reaching more than 5,000 for the first time.
More than half of these complaints were upheld, and the main cause of complaints was for poor property conditions, which accounted for almost 2,000 findings. The failure rate for this category rose from 39% to 54%, indicating that social housing landlords were not handling repair requests reasonably.
Health and safety complaints also had a high maladministration rate of 52%.
‘Sobering overview into social housing complaints’
Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, said “our Annual Complaints Review provides a unique and sobering overview into social housing complaints in this country. While the statistics reflect a picture of poor practice, they also reflect the increased pressures we know that social landlords are facing with a combined housing and cost of living crisis. However, despite some notable efforts, what our data shows is a fundamental gap between some of the services landlords deliver and the reasonable expectations of their residents. Too often residents with disabilities or mental health needs are falling between those gaps. Too often the basics are not being done properly, with straightforward communication or record keeping being missed leading to problems becoming more severe.
London has the highest maladministration rate
The review also highlights the regional differences in complaint handling with London having the highest maladministration rate and the most severe cases.
The South West had the lowest overall maladministration rate and the North East and Yorkshire had the lowest severe maladministration rate. The Ombudsman has now written to the chief executives of social housing landlords who have a maladministration rate of more than 50%, urging them to improve their performance.
There are 91 landlords in this category, with 25 of them having a maladministration rate above 75%.
The Ombudsman has also recognised five landlords who had no findings upheld, praising their positive complaint handling approach.
When social landlords do not comply
The review also looks at Complaint Handling Failure Orders (CHFOs), which are issued when social landlords do not comply with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
The Ombudsman issued 146 CHFOs last year, mostly for landlords with more than 10,000 homes. The review also includes the results of surveys conducted by the Ombudsman’s Resident Panel and landlords from across the country. The surveys show an encouraging trend towards promotion of the complaints process, signposting to the Ombudsman and sharing learning from complaints.
Residents also were more likely to believe that complaints would make a difference compared to last year.