Record numbers of homeless families stuck in city’s B&Bs
Birmingham forked out £13m last year alone amid crisis
ARECORD number of homeless families are now stuck in Birmingham B&Bs, often for months at a time, costing the city a fortune.
The bill for putting families up in hotels and B&Bs last year alone topped £13 million, it can be revealed.
Some 723 families were in hotels and B&Bs at the start of this month, with over half stuck there for at least six weeks.
A drastic shortage of affordable homes and too few social properties – linked to Government austerity cuts over the past 12 years and rightto-buy legislation – is behind the crisis.
More rental properties in the city are being turned into HMOs or switched to the exempt supported housing sector, with most private rentals out of reach for those on benefits. Together with the cost-of-living crisis, this is conspiring to leave hundreds of families with nowhere to call home. It all comes at a huge cost to the well-being and safety of children and parents, as well as to the public purse.
Our inquiries have revealed that in the last year some 19 hoteliers in the city received a total of £13,054,497 to put a roof over the heads of desperate people. The number of families has since risen, and the costs are likely to have as well.
Compared to other cities and towns, the situation locally is dire. The most recent national data on B&B stays for homeless families with children showed that Birmingham accounted for nearly a third of all stays in England, and over half of all long stays.
City council housing director Julie Griffin said in a typical week, some 225 households present as homeless, with an average of 43 new households every week going into temporary accommodation.
The most common cause of homelessness is the end of private tenancies, followed by relationship breakdowns and domestic violence.
The council has increased its capacity to deal with housing applications and homelessness, recruiting new staff and adding extra resources – but had not anticipated the impact of the cost of living crisis.
“The number of households living in temporary accommodation has hit a record high of 4,350 households,” she said in a report to the full council.
That compares to some 3,864 households in temporary accommodation in March.