New figures show over 150,000 children in England will start the new school year without a home

As the summer holidays come to an end and children across the country are preparing to go back to school, the Government has released shocking statistics that show the number of children in England who will be starting the school year living in temporary accommodation.

The latest quarterly homelessness statistics reveal that, as of 31 March 2024, 151,630 children in England are living in temporary accommodation (GOV.UK). This marks a 14.7% rise in the number of households with children in temporary accommodation from 31 March last year to 74,530 households as of 31 March 2024 (GOV.UK). 

Commenting on these figures, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, said: “this is nothing short of a national scandal.” (Housing Today). Children living in temporary accommodation have had their sense of home completely disrupted in the formative stage of their life, and their education is often impacted and sometimes put on hold until they can be placed in a new school or pre school setting due to their frequent changing of address.

As well as homelessness, children’s lives are also commonly impacted by poverty, poor parental mental health and trauma. Action Homeless also knows that children who have been homeless are much more likely to become homeless in adulthood. These figures not only lay bare the stark realities of the housing crisis, but underline the importance of ongoing work to provide people experiencing homelessness with safe housing and appropriate support, to continue towards breaking the cycle of homelessness.