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Temporary Accommodation

Volume 457: debated on Monday 5 March 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was to the public purse of placing households in temporary leasehold accommodation in each year since 1997. (122933)

[holding answer 23 February 2007]: Communities and Local Government collects data on Local Government expenditure in England on homelessness through the revenue outturn returns. The public expenditure on placing households in temporary accommodation in each year since 1997 is tabled as follows.

£000

Private sector leasing1

1997-98

40,066

1998-99

37,515

1999-2000

33,476

2000-01

32,442

2001-02

39,866

2002-03

72,426

Other homelessness2

1997-98

36,038

1998-99

45,327

1999-2000

50,114

2000-01

60,019

2001-02

94,709

2002-03

99,652

Leasehold dwellings3

2003-04

161,148

2004-05

239,174

2005-06

282,937

Other temporary accommodation4

2003-04

95,511

2004-05

197,288

2005-06

189,642

The increase in expenditure on leased accommodation reflects both that more vulnerable people are receiving help with accommodation, following the strengthening of the statutory safety net in 2002; and the Government’s drive to improve the quality of temporary accommodation used to house people under the homelessness legislation. Although good quality, self-contained leasehold accommodation accounts for around 50 per cent. of temporary accommodation used by local authorities, more needs to be done to help people find settled homes. In 2004, we set the challenging target of halving the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010.