Families Living in Temporary Accommodation
Reducing the impact of temporary accommodation for homeless children
The challenge
A hidden population living in emergency and temporary accommodation
There are 164,040 homeless children in England living in temporary accommodation. Many are living in dangerous conditions with little support to help them navigate through our complex systems. Families are continuously placed out of area, far away from their school, GP and community. The educational attainment of homeless children plummets when they become homeless. The barriers to healthcare increases and children's health and development suffer. There is a national focus and political will for rough sleeping, but less so for families. And tragically, between 2019-2024, 74 children have died with temporary accommodation being a contributing factor to their vulnerability, ill health or death. Most of them were babies under 1.
And yet, we dare to hope.
Shared Health's recommendations for Homeless Families are;
- A minimum set of standards and facilities in emergency and temporary accommodation (safer sleeping provision for infants is a life-saving must)
- No mixing of vulnerable single adults and families in B&Bs, ever. This is a safeguarding risk.
- NHS to code for temporary accommodation. The NHS does not currently have a way of tracking which children in temporary accommodation use health services.
- Homeless children to have similar rights for education and health as those in corporate parentship (Looked After Children is an example)
- Wrap around support for homeless families such as Focused Care.
- Support for Housing Officers
- A National Notification System similar to Operation Encompass to ensure no Homeless Family gets lost in the system. (Here is the guidance for how local authorities, schools and GPs can support homeless families)
- Free bus travel for homeless children and their adults in temporary accommodation
- Mental health support for parents going through the homeless system
OUR WORK AND INTERVENTIONS
Local health interventions and national strategic focus
Our work to support families experiencing homelessness has been vast and continues to include frontline work, advocacy and policy change.
The Shared Health Homeless Families team currently;
- Provide Focused Care support in emergency and temporary accommodation to support child development and health
- Provide crisis support for homeless families through our on-the-ground support centre, The Crib
- Work with accommodation providers and local authorities to improve accommodation standards and provision and implement a re-procurement process.
- Are embedded with local housing teams to support the most complex families on their journey through homelessness. We work across boroughs, local authorities and commissioning teams to ensure that consistency of care is provided, irrespective of postcode.
- Co-lead the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Households in Temporary Accommodation with Justlife to ensure families experiencing homelessness is an issue tackled at a national level.
- Work alongside VCSEs, schools, health visitors, the faith sector, general practitioners to improve coordination of care, as well as being an active member of the Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network.
- Host 'Dare to Hope' conferences showcasing the reality for families experiencing homelessness, as well as encouraging, supporting and inspiring those working with homeless families in any capacity.
- Host fringe events at the political party conferences, highlighting the impact of temporary accommodation on children.
THE IMPACT
Calling for policy change locally and nationally
Our key recommendations (from our Gold Standard Report and Call To Action) are being implemented at a local level in Greater Manchester which will significantly improve the health, wellbeing and safety of homeless families.
As co-secretariats of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation, we have released a report on our 'Call for Evidence' which documents the findings of the conditions people face in TA, including mould, overcrowding and additional unavoidable health risks such as the risk to child mortality in temporary accommodation.
Additionally our report ‘The Debt Trap’ documents how debt entraps women and children into homelessness and keeps them homeless.
We worked with the National Child Mortality Database to uncover that homelessness and temporary accommodation have contributed to the vulnerability, ill health or death of at least 74 children in England since 2019. Of those 74 children, 58 were less than a year old.
The APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation’s “Silent Nightmare” campaign resulted in the government updating the Homelessness Code of Guidance in February 2024, to include cots for children under 2 in temporary accommodation. The National Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) now asks a question around temporary accommodation since this data was uncovered due to our collaborative working with the NCMD.
Shared Health also held the Families Living in Temporary Accommodation exhibition in Parliament, commissioned by the APPG, detailing the experiences of families in TA across Greater Manchester.
There is currently no national government strategy to mitigate the trauma of homelessness on children. Many are living in dangerous conditions with little support to help them navigate through our complex systems. Families are continuously placed out of area, far away from their school, GP and community. The educational attainment of homeless children plummets when they become homeless. The barriers to healthcare increase and children's health and development suffer. In December 2024, we called for government action to prioritise ending child homelessness with our End Child Homelessness petition.
The APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation's SAFE Protocol Campaign aims to foster increased collaboration between local authorities, schools and GPs to ensure continuity of support for homeless families and children when they are placed in temporary accommodation.
You can be a voice for change! You can get involved with Shared Health’s work with homeless families by helping us campaign for policy change and building a network of advocates. Email us at contact@sharedhealth.org.uk
Downloadable Documents
To learn more about out work and our findings on this project, click the button below to download these documents:
- Homeless Families, The Gold Standard: A Proposal
- Homeless Families: A Call to Action
- 'Safer sleep advice for emergency situations' - a guide for parents and carers by The Lullaby Trust and Shared Health Foundation
- APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation: Call for evidence findings
- ‘The Debt Trap’ report – Women’s stories of navigating family homelessness and TA in Greater Manchester
- 'A cot for every night for every child' - letter from Dr Laura Neilson to all local authorities
- Letter from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation to the Prime Minister
- 'Child Mortality in Temporary Accommodation 2025' - report by the APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation