This month, the Public Accounts Committee released a report on homelessness and while it did not tell us anything new, it is clear that England desperately needs homes which are truly affordable.

Some of the PILC team have already begun the year supporting residents taking legal action against Lambeth Council  for forcing out over 160 households across five estates under section 21. This will cause unimaginable disruption and homelessness to the people living there, and is yet another example of the complete failure of Lambeth’s regeneration programme.

https://twitter.com/LawCentres/status/1883096725600018618

Some of the key findings from the report

➡️ 123,000 households in England were being housed in temporary accommodation as at June 2024

➡️ Providing temporary accommodation cost local authorities around £2.1 billion in 2023–24

➡️ Almost 6,000 households with children were being housed in a B&B as at June 2024 (of which almost 4,000 had been there for longer than the statutory six-week limit)

➡️ At the same point, some 39,000 households were occupying temporary accommodation outside their home area  

The Committee’s conclusions 

☑️ Local authorities are insufficiently resourced to focus on preventing households from becoming homeless

☑️ It is unacceptable that B&B accommodation is being used routinely to house people rather than as a last resort

☑️ Too many people’s lives are disrupted by being placed in temporary accommodation outside of their local area

☑️ We are not convinced that, in setting Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has given due consideration to the impact on homelessness

☑️ Tackling homelessness has long been hampered by the absence of a joined up, cross-government approach

☑️  The homelessness problem is being exacerbated by a severe shortage in housing supply, and especially affordable housing

☑️ MHCLG has made no progress in improving the oversight of the supported housing sector

 Considerations for Gypsies and Travellers

• Transit sites for Gypsy and Travellers aren't considered temporary accommodation for the purposes of homelessness provision
• This means no Housing Benefit to access transit sites which results in people having to apply for Universal Credit after signing a transit agreement (as you have to have proof of residence), and due to the delays getting UC either having to put up the deposit and around 4 weeks rent upfront, or facing eviction from transit before the UC money comes through, as rent is charged weekly

• If evicted this means people leave the site in debt and are not allowed to return
• It also means, that Gypsies and Travellers approaching homelessness departments, generally will not have their homelessness alleviated in a culturally appropriate way but will be funnelled into bricks and mortar, entirely unsuitable for those wishing to live in caravans on land. This is exacerbated by the sheer separation of homelessness and housing departments with site management and provision

PILC in the Media

PILC Solicitor Alexandra Goldenberg has been quoted across different platforms this month on the Lambeth issue:

Private tenants facing eviction so homeless people can live in South London flats – My London

https://www.property118.com/labour-council-faces-legal-challenge-after-handing-out-hundreds-of-eviction-notices

https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/01/lambeth-council-taken-to-high-court-over-private-letting-of-council-properties

Further reading

• The Guardian recently outlined why the Government’s plan to build any housing at any cost as a ‘solution’ to the housing crisis is totally unfit for purpose
• Residents 'left to rot' next to boarded up houses as Clockwork Orange estate regeneration stalled | The Standard
• Some interesting up-to-date stats from the National Planning Policy Framework EIA on our rotten housing system