Information about English local housing authorities’ actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level.
Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes so.
The number of households housed in temporary accommodation by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter, is also collected. This figure consists of those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which inquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority; and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
The latest figures for the number of households housed in temporary accommodation leased from the private sector by (a) registered social landlords and (b) local authorities are shown as follows:
Type of temporary accommodation Number of households Private sector leased by RSL 11,700 Private sector leased by LA 25,750 Source: CLG P1E returns (quarterly)