Councils in England spent £2.93 billion on temporary accommodation for homeless households between April 2025 and March 2026, recent government figures show. This sum includes B&Bs, hotels, and self-contained accommodation.
According to Shelter, this expenditure is equivalent to £8.04 million a day and marks an 88% increase over five years. Data from August indicated that 135,580 households experiencing homelessness, including 177,530 children, are currently living in temporary accommodation.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has projected that the cost to councils for providing temporary accommodation for homeless people in England could more than double to almost £4 billion by 2029–30. The government has stated its aim to end the use of B&Bs for this purpose by the end of the current parliament.