Kirklees is paying for hundreds of people facing homelessness to live in hotels and B&Bs for months – including one who spent nearly two years in temporary accommodation.
Data from December 2024 showed that 104 families and 80 individuals were being put up in Kirklees bed and breakfasts, with a further 252 in temporary accommodation waiting for a permanent home. At the time, 19,000 people were on the council housing register awaiting a property.
The demand for temporary accommodation in Kirklees “significantly outweighs” the number of properties available, according to a council report published earlier this year, with the council’s Housing Solutions Service having 180 sites to meet this. But with the number of cases needing temporary accommodation ‘far exceeding’ available provision, the council says it is forced to use “less appropriate” hotels and B&Bs.
The use of temporary accommodation comes at a high cost to the local authority, with a £7.84m spend forecast for 2024/25 against a budget of £3.42m.
Now, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that the longest period of time a person experiencing homelessness has been housed in a hotel or B&B as temporary accommodation is 712 days. The operator of this property received £35,600 for this stay, equating to £50 per day.
While the council said it was unable to give specifics around this case, it explained that the 712-day stay took place during the pandemic, when the government asked all local authorities to move everyone at risk of sleeping rough into accommodation to reduce wider transmission of Covid-19.
The average length of time a person spends in temporary accommodation in Kirklees is 51 days.
Image: Kirklees Council
Cllr Crook, Deputy Leader of Kirklees Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We have both a statutory and a moral obligation to support those of our residents who find themselves facing homelessness, and who come to us for help. When we are unable to find a more permanent solution straight away, we provide temporary accommodation while we work to help them get back on their feet, and to find appropriate long-term housing options.
“Usually this happens quickly, but some cases can be incredibly complex. We support people with many different issues and vulnerabilities, and sometimes this means it is more difficult to find safe and suitable housing options to meet the person’s needs. Our priority must always be to ensure people in these situations are safe, and that they are able to access crucial support services whilst we do everything we can to find more permanent housing solutions.
“Whilst most people would typically be in temporary accommodation for a short time in Kirklees, the acute national housing crisis has meant that we have seen a huge rise in homelessness over the last few years. This rise has taken a toll on the temporary accommodation we have available, as well as on our council budget.
“In February we introduced new measures which will mean more temporary housing is available in Kirklees – reducing our reliance on hotels and B&Bs, and therefore the cost of providing this service. Right now we’re proactively finding ways to save money, whilst also prioritising providing people with all the comfort and dignity we can as we work towards more permanent housing solutions for them.”
In February, the council announced it would be upping its budget for temporary accommodation and taking a new approach which involves taking on lease agreements with private landlords . The local authority had trialled a 24-month pilot scheme where 14 homeless families have been housed in a privately-owned former student accommodation block.
This was said to have been a success, with the council looking to take on a total of 38 properties at the site and commit to a longer-term lease. Cabinet gave officers the authority to enter into similar agreements on other properties.
