The percentage of councils’ total housing budget being spent on homelessness and temporary accommodation has more than tripled since 2015, according to LGA analysis.
The data – based on the set council budget at the start of the financial year – shows that councils in England expected to spend £1.048 billion on homelessness in 2023/24, compared with £315 million in 2015/16. In that year, 18 per cent of councils’ total housing budgets were allocated to homelessness, whereas spending on homelessness accounted for 60 per cent of total housing budgets in 2023/24 – meaning councils have less money to invest in and run homelessness prevention services.
The LGA has previously warned that councils are spending at least £1.75 billion annually on supporting nearly 113,000 households in temporary accommodation because of a lack of social housing. Without a concerted effort to address severe housing shortages and increase councils’ stock of available social housing, these figures are likely to rise further.
As part of its Local Government White Paper, the LGA has called on government to relieve the pressures on council budgets by implementing a series of measures, including reform of Right to Buy, abolition of permitted development, banning ‘no fault’ evictions of tenants, and continued access to preferential borrowing rates for housing.
Cllr Claire Holland, LGA Housing Spokesperson, said: “Homelessness pressures on councils are spiralling, as a larger proportion of their budgets is put towards costly temporary accommodation because of a lack of social housing. The way to properly resolve the issue is to address the shortage of suitable housing across the country and build up councils’ stock of social housing.
“Councils need to be given the powers and resources to build affordable homes their communities need.”