Labour declares "national scandal" with thousands of homeless children in Luton in temporary accommodation
Thousands of homeless children in Luton are being housed in temporary accommodation, new figures show.
Labour described the homelessness crisis as a "national scandal" as the number of children living in temporary accommodation hit a record high.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures show 1,078 households were living in temporary accommodation as of the end of March. Of these, 921 households had 2,050 children – up from 1,906 a year earlier.
Nationally, a record 120,000 households were living in temporary accommodation.
Meanwhile, the number of children rose by 15 per cent, surpassing 150,000 and reaching the highest figure since records began in 2004.
Temporary accommodation is a form of homelessness and can include people living in hostels or bed and breakfasts.
Big Issue founder and crossbench peer Lord Bird, who has spoken out about his experience of growing up in poverty, described the latest figures as "appalling" and warned that "another winter looms and there’s little being done to turn this terrible tide".
In Luton, 118 households were living in B&B hotels as of March.
By law, B&Bs are meant to be used only for families in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks.
But across England, the number of households with children exceeding that timeframe has rocketed by 80% from 1,810 in 2023 to 3,250 this year. This included 43 in Luton – up from 32 the year before.
Housing charity Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: "Without a clear plan to invest in genuinely affordable social homes, thousands more children will be forced to grow up in damaging temporary accommodation, spending months if not years living out of suitcases, crammed into grim bedsits and B&Bs, and unable to put down any roots."
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: "We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and homelessness remains at record levels. This is nothing short of a national scandal.
"Urgent action must be taken to fix this. That’s why we are working across Government and with local leaders to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness for good."
To prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, Ms Rayner said the Government will deliver "the biggest increase in social and affordable homebuilding in a generation".