Still Living in Limbo: Why the use of temporary accommodation must end

Over the last decade, the number of social rented homes in England has fallen by more than 100,000. Into this void has emerged ‘temporary accommodation’. This is accommodation councils offer to homeless households while they wait to be offered a settled home.

Temporary accommodation was never intended to exist outside of emergencies. But it’s now accommodating almost 100,000 households, including over 125,000 children. Temporary accommodation is often far from a temporary arrangement. The majority of households have lived there for a year or more.

We conducted a survey of over one thousand people living in temporary accommodation. This is the largest ever piece of research with this group. Our sample reached across England and was broadly representative of all households in temporary accommodation.

This report sets out the findings from this research, and recommendations for policy change.