18.02.13
Councils’ use of B&Bs for housing rises 800%
The use of B&Bs to house poor families for over six weeks has risen by 800% since the last general election, new figures show.
Freedom of information requests by Labour to 325 councils, 242 of which responded, found that 125 reported placing poor families in hotels for six weeks or more. 54% of these councils are Conservative.
Such a move is meant to be a short-term solution, and it is illegal for councils to use B&Bs for longer than six weeks.
Local authorities point to welfare cuts and a lack of affordable housing, making B&Bs the only option is some cases. Councils are currently spending an average of £650 a week to keep people off the streets.
Jack Dromey, Labour's shadow housing minister, called it “an absolute disgrace” and said: “The Government’s housing and economic policies are failing and families with children are paying the price. Affordable house building has collapsed, rents are soaring and their ill-thought-through benefit changes are driving up homelessness.
“But the Government's policies are not just causing desperate hardship for those affected, they're costing taxpayers millions of pounds every week.”
The housing minister Mark Prisk had said in December: “There is absolutely no excuse for any family to be stuck in bed and breakfast accommodation, and the law is clear that families should only be placed in this temporary accommodation in an emergency and only then for no more than six weeks. It is also a waste of taxpayers' money to be paying such large sums to house families in unsuitable accommodation.
“Where families do have to be housed in bed and breakfast, it should be a short-term measure whilst suitable accommodation is found. We have invested £470m funding to ensure we continue to have some of the strongest protections in the world against homelessness, which has helped ensure that levels remain lower than for 28 of the last 30 years.”
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