CIH responds to the latest local authority expenditure statistics on homelessness and temporary accommodation

The release of the Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing England 2024-25 data has revealed deeply concerning trends in the mounting cost of homelessness and temporary accommodation (TA). 

According to the figures, councils in England spent £2.8 billion on TA last year — an increase of 25 per cent in just 12 months. 

£844 million of this was spent on housing people in emergency B&Bs and hostels, which is often seen as the worst type of TA for family households. 

Commenting on the latest statistics, Rachael Williamson, CIH’s director of policy, communications and external affairs, said: “We welcome the government’s commitment to funding new affordable homes, which is an essential part of the long-term solution to the housing crisis. 

“But today’s figures show that without tackling the rising costs driving homelessness, uprating local housing allowance to reflect private rents, and reforming the temporary accommodation subsidy rate, councils will remain trapped in an unsustainable cycle of escalating spend on short-term fixes.” 

She added: “The forthcoming Autumn Budget and homelessness strategy provide a vital opportunity to take these steps — families and children deserve safe, stable homes, not years stuck in temporary accommodation.” 

Key findings 

• In 2024-25, local authorities’ net current service expenditure was £134.2 billion, a real-terms increase of £5.4 billion (4.2 per cent) over 2023–24 
• Housing services (excluding Housing Revenue Account) saw a large increase: up 12.6% in real terms to £3.3 billion; within that, net current expenditure on homelessness services rose by 22.4 per cent in real terms to £2.2 billion; gross expenditure on homelessness services reached £3.7 billion
• A large component of the homelessness expenditure increase was in nightly paid, privately managed accommodation, which increased by about £309 million to £620 million.

What these figures mean 

These statistics make apparent several concerning realities: 

• Unsustainable financial burdens for councils: The rise in homelessness spend — especially for emergency accommodation — points to growing pressures on local government budgets. Councils are increasingly having to absorb the cost of temporary, privately run accommodation, often at rates far higher than long-term housing solutions 
• More households, more children in temporary accommodation: Record levels of households in temporary accommodation are shown, many of them with dependent children; the human cost — disruption to schooling, family life, stability — is enormous, and the social implications should not be underestimated 
• Dependence on reactive, expensive measures: Nightly-paid places, private sector temporary accommodation, and other stopgap arrangements are costly, but also frequently ill-suited for long stays, especially for families; they are not substitutes for truly affordable, secure, well-managed homes 
• Prevention is falling behind need: While there are improvements in some duty-end outcomes, the increasing demand and rising TA usage suggest that prevention efforts are not keeping pace with risk factors such as eviction, private rental insecurity, rising rents, and changes in welfare payments 
• Quality, duration and regulation: The figures show declines in some of the worst kinds of TA (e.g. B&B stays over six weeks), which is good news, but continued reliance on unsuitable accommodation for longer than is desirable remains part of the picture; the statutory limits are being breached in some cases, and many placements are outside of people’s local areas, disrupting access to support, schools, jobs, and community networks.  

CIH’s perspective and calls to action 

The crisis revealed by these statistics is not inevitable. There are practical steps the government, local authorities, housing providers, and communities can take — but they require urgency, scale, and political will. 

• Reform funding for temporary and emergency accommodation: Central government needs to ensure that local authorities are properly reimbursed for the true cost of TA, especially nightly paid and private TA; caps, hidden costs, and bureaucracy must be addressed 
• Prioritise homelessness prevention: Early intervention (e.g. eviction prevention, tenancy support, landlord mediation) must be resourced and rolled out more widely; preventing homelessness is not only more humane but far more cost-effective than responding once crisis has hit 
• Ensure the forthcoming homelessness strategy is bold and inclusive: If the government is to reverse these trends, the promised homelessness strategy must set measurable targets for reducing use of TA, reducing long stays in unsuitable accommodation, improving outcomes for children, and ensuring that no household is placed far from support networks or their community. 

CIH will be reflecting on this latest data in our forthcoming submission to the government’s Autmn Budget.