Temporary housing ‘a factor in 55 child deaths in England since 2019’

Councils ‘have an ever-growing list of homeless families waiting for accommodation and an ever-smaller pool of housing to put them in’, said Siobhain McDonagh, an MP. Photograph: Mike Abrahams/Alamy

Temporary accommodation has contributed to the deaths of dozens of babies in England, according to investigations into child deaths over a four-year period.

In figures that MPs and the government called “shocking”, living in temporary accommodation was a factor in the unexpected deaths of 55 children between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2023, according to official reviewers. It found that 42 of those who died were less than a year old.