The number of people living in temporary accommodation has continued to rise as council bosses seek to tackle a chronic housing crisis.
Latest figures show 439 families were in emergency housing at the end of July this year, up from just eight in March 2022 and 148 at the end of March 2024.
Leeds City Council saw its waiting list for social homes rise to 27,600 in March – more than ten times the number of council homes rented out last year.
Some 6,000 of the applicants were classed as having the highest priority.
A report to the council’s Housing Board said: “As we only let around 2,600 Council homes in 2024/25, this means that the average wait time for an applicant in the most urgent need is in excess of two years.”
The overall number of available homes had fallen since 2019, while demand increased, the report said.
It said: “Alongside this we have seen an increase in the number of households living in temporary accommodation, where the council has a statutory duty to accommodate.”
The council made changes to its lettings policy, designed to speed up the process of housing people in the most need.
It means homeless people will be given priority status for a year, up from 180 days.
Further changes would see some people could be excluded from the city’s Leeds Homes register, including those with assets of over £60,000 or without a local connection to Leeds.
The council said it also established a Housing Pressures Board to oversee the lettings policy changes and delivery of temporary accommodation.
The report said: “There is significant demand for council housing that cannot be met and we manage a large amount of customer and ward member enquiries about the impacts of this on individual residents.”
