Homeless children spend more than year in a bed and breakfast

HOMELESS children in Wales have spent more than a year living in B&Bs. Exclusive figures show there were two children in Wrexham who had been living in B&Bs for more than a year at the end of December 2018.

There were also 21 children who had been living in B&Bs for between six months and a year – 19 in Wrexham and two in Swansea – according to the response to a Freedom of Information request.

It is unlawful for local authorities to house homeless families with children or someone who is pregnant in accommodation with shared facilities.

All types of homeless households should spend less than six weeks in such accommodation.

However, some families may be being accommodated outside of housing law (for example, where the council has no duty to help), such as by children’s services departments.

The figures come as a report was published by the Children’s Commissioner for England expressing concern at thousands of children growing up in shipping containers, office blocks and B&Bs.

The figures cover B&Bs and other accommodation where residents have to share a bathroom and kitchen (if there are any cooking facilities at all) with others who live there.

The Children’s Commissioner raised concerns about children living in B&Bs because, while other residents might be families, they may also be vulnerable adults, such as those with mental health or drug abuse problems, creating intimidating and potentially unsafe environments for children.

Across Wales there were 71 families or pregnant women and 131 children living in B&Bs and other shared-facility accommodation at the end of December.

Of these, 43 families or pregnant women and 82 children had been there longer than six weeks.

However, it is possible that some or all of these families have since moved to other accommodation.

Of the 2,420 families known to be living in B&Bs in December 2018, a third had been there for more than six weeks.

A report by the Children’s Commissioner published today has revealed some children are living in converted shipping containers and office blocks, as well as B&Bs, in cramped conditions, often miles away from their schools.

Official statistics show 124,000 children in England are living in temporary accommodation, but this doesn’t include the hidden homeless – the report estimates that in 2016-17 there were also 92,000 children living in sofa-surfing families.

The Children’s Commissioner is also warning that official figures fail to capture a small but highly vulnerable group of homeless children who have been placed in temporary accommodation by children’s services rather than by the council’s housing department.

This includes families who have been deemed to have made themselves “intentionally homeless”, and those with no recourse to public funds as a result of their immigration status.

The report also warns that temporary accommodation is frequently not fit for children to live in.

Due to the level of demand and shortage of accommodation, children are spending a long time waiting for permanent places to live, and many families are being placed in homes that are of poor quality and too small.

The Children’s Commissioner is particularly concerned about families being placed in B&Bs, office block conversions – where flats are often smaller than national space standards – and shipping containers – which are also cramped, as well extremely hot in summer and too cold in the winter.

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, said: “Something has gone very wrong with our housing system when children are growing up in B&Bs, shipping containers and old office blocks.

“Children have told us of the disruptive and at times frightening impact this can have on their lives.

“It is a scandal that a country as prosperous as ours is leaving tens of thousands of families in temporary accommodation for long periods of time, or to sofa-surf.

“It is essential that the Government invests properly in a major house-building programme and that it sets itself a formal target to reduce the number of children in temporary accommodation.”