Homeless families 'unsustainable' for councils

The number of families needing temporary or emergency accommodation is "unsustainable" for local authorities, council leaders have said.

There are at least 2,155 homeless families in Essex who have turned to councils for housing support, according to figures obtained by the BBC.

In areas like Southend and Harlow, most have been placed in social housing. But in other areas of Essex, private properties have been rented, some families have been placed in bed and breakfasts and others have been moved 40 miles away.

Several district councils, including Chelmsford, Colchester and Basildon said housing was their "biggest cost pressure".

Seven councils in Essex spent a combined £10.3m on temporary and emergency accommodation in 2023-24.

Chelmsford has the highest number of homeless households, with the council helping 480 find a roof over their heads. The city council is forecast to spend £4.8m this year - more than double what it budgeted for last year.

A spokesperson said "the majority of the homelessness cases we deal with every year are families with children - both couples and single parents".

Approximately 1,500 individuals are homeless in the city.

Stephen Robinson, Lib Dem leader of Chelmsford Council, warned "thousands more are in overcrowded or poor quality homes. This is a huge social cost and a huge cost to the taxpayer".

Families have faced rising rental costs in Chelmsford and other parts of Essex including Basildon.

Labour council leader Gavin Callaghan said there had been a "tenfold increase in demand since 2019" for temporary accommodation.

Callaghan said people had "lost their homes or been forced to move out due to increase costs of the private rented sector. As things stand, the private rented sector in Basildon is broken and unaffordable".

He warned the bill for bed and breakfasts was heading to £3m a year if Basildon did not address the "unsustainable" and "unacceptable" situation.

Basildon has had to send 90 of the 151 homeless households out of its borough. Castle Point housed 70% of its 80 homeless households elsewhere. In Uttlesford one in five could not be housed locally and one household was moved 40 miles away.

Basildon Council said it was looking to purchase 500 homes over the next five years while Chelmsford was looking to build more social homes.

In Southend, Labour City Council leader Daniel Cowan said "84% of the projected overspend this year is on children's and adults social services and temporary accommodation".

Cowan said the council was looking at purchasing properities "including old B&Bs" to see if they could be renovated and used for temporary accommodation to bring costs down.

In Harlow a third of housing is owned by the council.

Conservative leader Dan Swords said finding temporary and emergency housing was "a big challenge but a bit less so in Harlow" because of the council's large housing stock.

But Swords said the council was starting to "struggle to find provision" and the authority was building new council homes and acquiring new properties.

There are 350 homeless households supported by Harlow Council. All apart from six have been housed within the district.

Every district/unitary authority in Essex responded to the BBC providing the number of homeless households they are supporting. Thurrock, Epping Forrest and Tendring councils figures are missing.

New research by the BBC has found that across the country the financial pressure being faced by local councils is getting worse. All of them are already in the middle of cutting millions of pounds from this year’s budgets but nearly all are predicting a further shortfall in future budgets which is getting larger every year.

The problem is most acute for our county councils and unitary authorities which oversee the big spending departments of social care, children’s services and highways.

Our figures show that Thurrock, which has already received emergency financial support from the Government is facing a cumulative shortfall of £32m by 2026 which represents 14% of its net budget while Essex county council is facing a £92m shortfall. (7.5% of its budget). Both authorities will probably rely on reserves to cover some of the gap but there will still have to be tough decisions.

All the authorities say there will be tough spending decisions of one kind or another to balance the books.

Over the last 15 years, councils have learnt to slim down their back office, reduce services and look for alternative ways of making money. Every year it gets harder.

The new government is promising a longer term funding settlement to help councils with their planning. But could it do more?

Other suggestions include lifting the cap on how much they can put up council tax by or being given permission not to have to balance their budget every year.

And they would all like it if the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves could find some more money for councils in her budget.

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