Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to reduce the number of households living temporarily in bed and breakfasts, private hostels, short-stay houses of multiple occupancy and guesthouses.

Tackling homelessness is a priority for this Government. We are already undertaking a significant programme of work backed by £1.2 billion in funding, to tackle homelessness. This includes supporting local authorities with implementing the landmark Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation and supporting London boroughs to procure more efficiently.

The Government has targeted funding streams focused on reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation. For example, we recently launched the £20 million Private Rented Sector (PRS) Access Fund which funds schemes targeting families who are or at risk of homelessness and supporting them to access and sustain PRS accommodation.

This Government has been clear that the long term use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children is both inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this practice. Our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness sector, have provided support to help local authorities to end the placement of families in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than 6 weeks.

We are working with other government departments to assess what more can be done to address the number of people in temporary accommodation. This work is being overseen by the Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Ministerial Taskforce.