Thousands of children in England are stuck in B&Bs with no permanent home amid a surge in no-fault evictions.
A pandemic-era ban on landlords booting out families for no reason ended last June - triggering a spike in evictions that has put thousands of households in emergency accommodation, new figures reveal.
The government has pledged to ban no-fault evictions - but so far there’s no sign of legislation from the Tories to make it happen, triggering outrage from homelessness charities.
Over 2,320 households with children were in B&Bs as of June, according to official data, up 65% on the same time last year.
More than 1,000 had been stuck there for more than the legal limit of six weeks, a shocking 108% surge from last year.
And the number of households in England threatened with homelessness has hit 33,570 - up 5% from the same period last year.
It includes 5,940 households threatened with homelessness due to being slapped with a Section 21 notice, or no-fault eviction.
The numbers facing no-fault evictions are up a whopping 76% on the same period last year. Meanwhile, nearly 60,000 households are languishing in temporary accommodation.
The figures mean that homelessness in the private rented sector is now 19% higher than before the pandemic, leading Matt Downie, Chief Executive of Crisis, to say that the system is at "breaking point".
He added: “Behind these numbers are the stories of people forced from their homes into a system which is at breaking point. Families spending the winter months cooped up in one room with nowhere to wash or cook, while others are forced miles away from their support networks leaving them isolated and alone....This cannot continue."
Fiona Colley, Director of Social Change at Homeless Link, the national membership charity for homelessness organisations, said: the government first promised to ban no fault evictions in 2019, but has failed to make it happen.
She added: "Thousands of people continue to be made homeless through no fault of their own. Delaying the S21 ban any longer, as more and people struggle to keep up with rising costs, will be devastating for the millions of private renters across England.”
Over 24,000 households with children are homeless or at risk - up 13% in just a year.
Overall, 72,000 households are now classed as homeless, though the figure is likely to exclude thousands of rough sleepers - as well as people in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It comes after homeless charities blasted the government’s “shameful” record on housing, as nearly 1,000 people died while homeless in Britain last year.
Official figures revealed that 741 people died while homeless in England and Wales during 2021, and another 250 people in Scotland.
The damning stats take Britain’s homeless death total to 991 last year alone, and back up to pre-pandemic levels.
Nearly two in five deaths were related to drug poisoning, while another 13% were suicides, up by a third in a year.
And the average age of death of those facing homelessness was a shocking 43 years old for women, and 45 years for men - three decades shorter than those who have a permanent roof over their heads.
Shelter is urging the government to bring forward its long-promised Renters’ Reform Bill which will ban no-fault evictions, and to end the freeze on housing benefit to help struggling renters to access safe accommodation this winter.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “This winter is going to be brutal as the cost of living crisis goes from bad to worse, and the threat of rising rents and evictions loom large.”
She added: “Not a day goes by without our emergency helpline taking yet more calls from families who are being turfed out of their homes because of no-fault evictions.
"Many of these families won’t be able to find another rental – and instead may spend a bleak winter trapped in emergency accommodation with nowhere to cook or eat a meal, let alone put up a Christmas tree."
Homeless charities are demanding the government introduces its promised Renters’ Reform Bill.
A government spokesperson said on Tuesday: “We are providing £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness.”
