More than 1,600 homeless families left in English hotels and B&Bs past legal limit

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The number of homeless families being housed by English councils in hotels and B&Bs for longer than the legal limit is at its highest in 20 years.

The latest government figures show that 1,630 families were being housed in hotels and B&Bs by councils in England past the six-week legal limit between October and December last year. This is the highest reported figure since 2003. It also marks the highest quarterly increase ever recorded, jumping 35% since data was last reported, for July to September last year.

The problem is particularly acute in London. According to data from London Councils, the cross-party local government association for Greater London, there was an 180% increase in families being housed in hotels and B&Bs for more than six weeks from 2021 to 2022.

Many of these families have no access to cooking and clothes washing facilities and have to pay for laundry, storage services and takeaway food.

Monica Rocha has been living in a Travelodge in Enfield with her two sons, aged 15 and five, since early February. They are one of 200 families currently being housed in commercial hotels by Enfield council.

She was renting privately but was evicted from her home after the landlord decided to sell the property. She has not been able to find another property on the private rental market.

“If you don’t earn over ?40,000, it is very hard to get a property,” she said. “We saw a place that costs ?1,600 per month. [The landlord] wanted me to earn ?60,000.”

The Guardian spoke to a number of families living in the Travelodge, most of whom said they had been homeless since being evicted from private rented accommodation due to a rent increase or the landlord wanting to sell the home.

Rocha’s teenage son finds living in the hotel particularly difficult. “He tells me: ‘I feel suffocated, Mum’. He goes to the stairway to study because it’s quiet. It’s been affecting his studies and he got into a fight for the first time.

“He keeps asking me: ‘Did [the council] tell you anything? When are we going to move?’ Every day it’s the same question. It is very difficult. When I cry, I have to cry by myself.”

Rocha is an airport security officer. In accordance with Travelodge policy, she has to move rooms every 28 days, and she also says she has had to move out of the hotel temporarily several times. “I have to ask for annual leave to move. It’s very stressful. I never thought I’d be in this situation.”

Piotr Rembikowski spoke to the Guardian in April. He is a wheelchair user with a reconstructed bowel, and had been living in the Travelodge since August last year. He said his booking had been extended until late June.

Enfield council say that at least 6,000 homes in the borough are being used by other councils and government departments, including the Home Office.

An Enfield council spokesperson said: “In February this year alone, 464 homeless families approached the council for help, compared to 196 in October 2021. Enfield residents are bearing the brunt of a national housing crisis.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “Over 600,000 households have been prevented from becoming homeless or supported into settled accommodation since 201,8 but we know there is more to be done to help families at risk of losing their homes.

“We are giving councils ?1bn through the homelessness prevention grant over three years. This is on top of ?26bn cost-of-living support this year. Local authorities have a duty to ensure no family is without a roof over their head, and temporary accommodation plays an important role in this.”