Housing

Homelessness trends

Homelessness 'Acceptances'

Homelessness acceptances* peaked in 2003/2004, and since then have fallen by over 60 per cent, with year on year reductions. The latest Statutory Homelessness Statistics for the January - March 2009 period showed a 26 per cent reduction in acceptances compared with the same period last year.

These reductions are a result of homelessness strategies and prevention measures being put in place by every local authority in England.

In 2002 the strengthening of the homelessness legislation and the extension of the priority need groups are in part responsible for the sharp increase in homelessness acceptances between 2002 and 2003.

Data available to download using chart 1 and table below.

* Households accepted as being owed the main homelessness duty by local authorities under the Homelessness legislation*

Temporary Accommodation

The number of households living in temporary accommodation has been falling since the end of 2005, following a period when numbers had been static at around 101,000. The number of households living in temporary accommodation at 31 March 2009 is 64,000.  

A wide range of temporary accommodation is used by local authorities to discharge their homelessness duties, but the vast majority of households (88 per cent) (and 93 per cent of families with children) are in self-contained accommodation.  

72 per cent of households were in private sector accommodation, 16 per cent were in accommodation owned by social landlords and 8 per cent were in hostel accommodation and women's refuges. Only 4 per cent of all households in Temporary Accommodation were in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Data available to download using chart 2 and table below.

Families with Children in Bed and Breakfast

In March 2002 the Government announced its target to end the use of Bed and Breakfast hotels to accommodate families with children except in an emergency and then for no longer than six weeks, by the end of March 2004.

This target was achieved and is being sustained. Since April 2004, when the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 came into force, local authorities can no longer discharge their duty to families with children accepted as homeless by placing them in Bed and Breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks.  

Data available to download using chart 3 and table below.

Rough sleeping

In 1998 the Prime Minister set a target to reduce the number of people sleeping rough by at least two thirds by 2002. This target was met a year early and is being sustained - currently a 74 per cent reduction on the 1998 baseline level - with 483 rough sleepers on any given night in England based on the sum of street counts in areas with a known or suspected rough sleeping problem.

Numbers in temporary accommodation - forward trajectory

The Government has a challenging target to halve the number of households in temporary accommodation to 50,500 by 2010. Information provided by local authorities in their temporary accommodation action plans and in response to a survey indicates that they are on track to achieve the 50 per cent reduction.

Data available to download using chart 4 and table below.

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