Record number of households facing homelessness across England

Crisis says firm commitment to deliver 90,000 social homes a year needed from government as homelessness exceeds 320,000   

New figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government today show that the number of households facing homelessness has exceeded (320,000) between 2023-2024, the highest on record. This is an 8% rise on last year and means that more than the population of Nottingham are now homeless in England.   

The statistics also show that:   

• The main reason that households were forced to seek homelessness assistance from their local council was due to friends and family being unable to accommodate them (87,290). This highlights the pressures still facing people as high living costs and unaffordable rents force more and more people to sofa surf.  

• The ending of a private tenancy continues to be one of the leading causes of homelessness with 79,500 seeking help from their council because their assured short hold tenancy has come to an end. This includes 26,150 households having been served a s21 ‘no fault eviction’ demonstrating the urgent need for the Renters Rights Bill to progress through parliament quickly.  

• The number of households forced to live in temporary accommodation remains at record levels with 117,450 households being placed in this form of accommodation by their council, a 12.3% rise on last year.  

• As of 31 March 2024, a fifth of all households with children in temporary accommodation (22.5%) had been there for 5 years or more.  

• There are now 151,630 children living in temporary accommodation, which is enough to fill 5,700 classrooms. 

Homelessness charity Crisis is calling on the new government to commit to building 90,000 social homes every year so it can start to deliver on its aspirations to tackle homelessness and end the damage it does to people’s lives. 

Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, said:  

“The need to tackle homelessness and start building the social homes we need has never been more urgent.  

“To see proof that we have tens of thousands of families spending years of their lives trapped in unsuitable temporary accommodation like mouldy B&Bs, which are damaging their children’s health and robbing them of life experiences like having friends over to play, is heartbreaking. Unless we take a different approach, this will become the reality for generations to come.     

“We cannot delay any longer. In the short term we need to see local councils given adequate funding at the upcoming budget so that they can properly support people who have nowhere to go. But to truly build a stable future for this country, the new government must commit to delivering 90,000 social homes every year and provide the critical investment needed to make this happen. Only then can people who have lost their home begin to rebuild their lives and leave homelessness behind for good. They cannot wait any longer.” 

-Ends- 

Notes to Editor 

The full statistics for Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2023-24 and the dataset can be seen and downloaded here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-financial-year-2023-24/statutory-homelessness-in-england-financial-year-2023-24 

They show that: 

• In 2023-24 a total of 324,990 household were owed a prevention or relief duty after making a homelessness application to an English local authority. This is an increase of 8% compared to the previous year. It is more than the population of Nottingham (299,790) according to the 2021 Census. 

• 79,500 households were seeking support because of the ending of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) and of those 26,150 households having been served a s21 ‘no fault eviction’. 

• 17,210 households’ accommodation, at time of being owed a duty, was given as rough sleeping. This has increased by 15.7% since the previous year. 

• As of the 31 March 2024, 117,450 households were in temporary accommodation including 74,530 households with children living in them (63%). 

• 16,760 households with children in temporary accommodation had been there for more than 5 years. 40% of all households in temporary accommodation (47,190) have been there for 2 years or more.  

Additional data on time in temporary accommodation can be seen here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66fd337430536cb927482aa4/Additional_temporary_accommodation_breakdowns__31_March_2024.ods  

Average class size for all infant classes in state-funded primary and secondary schools is 26.6.