Housing: Children

Sarah Teather
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many children were registered as living in (a) temporary accommodation, (b) non-decent accommodation and (c) overcrowded accommodation in each local authority area in each year since 2004.

Mr. Iain Wright
Figures are available at local authority level for the number of children in temporary accommodation, but not for the numbers living in non-decent homes or in overcrowded accommodation.

Information about English local authorities’ actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected includes 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 available.

Information on the numbers of households housed in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The number of dependent children or expected children in these households has been collected since mid 2004. Figures reported by local authorities from 2004-05 onwards (as at the end of March each year) are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library.