The number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation in England has reached an all-time high, with official figures showing 176,130 children in such housing as of December. This marks a significant increase, reflecting ongoing challenges in the housing sector.
Record Numbers in Temporary Housing
According to the latest government statistics, 134,210 households across England are now living in temporary accommodation, a rise of five percent compared to the previous year. Notably, a third of these households are situated outside their home area, indicating displacement.
The release of these figures coincides with the imminent implementation of the Renters' Rights Act, a flagship piece of Labour legislation aimed at strengthening tenant protections. The Act will abolish the controversial Section 21 'no-fault' evictions, convert all fixed-term tenancies into periodic rolling contracts, and empower tenants to challenge rent increases more effectively.
Government and Charity Responses
The government has stated that the data “indicates fewer households are approaching their local council and receiving support because they are at risk or have recently become homeless.” However, charities have expressed grave concern.
Sarah Elliott, chief executive of Shelter, commented: “The fact the number of children homeless has risen for the seventeenth time in a row is hard to stomach. This terrible track record speaks to the desperate shortage of social homes and a rental system stacked against tenants for too long. Losing a privately rented home has been a major cause of homelessness for years, with dreaded no-fault evictions responsible for leaving thousands of families without a home.”
The data also reveals that the number of households receiving an initial homelessness assessment fell by 1.3 percent between October and December 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year. Similarly, households assessed as being at risk of homelessness decreased by 3.1 percent.
Call for More Social Housing
Ms Elliott added: “The incoming Renters Rights Act marks a giant step forward, finally giving renters hard won protections from unfair evictions. But the only way to end homelessness for good, is for the government to rapidly increase the number of genuinely affordable social rent homes by helping councils to build at scale again.”
Labour has pledged to construct 1.5 million homes by 2029 to improve affordability and address homelessness, with a target of 180,000 social homes by 2036. However, experts argue that this target is insufficient. Shelter has called for the construction of 90,000 social homes annually for a decade to compensate for the net loss of 260,000 social homes in the ten years leading up to 2022-2023.
The government has been approached for comment. This is a developing story.
