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London councils skirt six-week rule for homeless families

London families are being forced to share bathrooms and kitchens with strangers for long periods, as councils make use of an exemption in the law on temporary accommodation, an Inside Housing investigation has revealed.

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Homeless families forced to share bathrooms with strangers for long periods #ukhousing

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Councils making use of loophole in homelessness legislation #ukhousing

London councils skirt six-week rule for homeless families

Homeless families are being housed for protracted periods in council-owned properties, Inside Housing has discovered, in conditions that would be illegal if their temporary accommodation was privately owned.

The law states that families should not be housed in non-self-contained temporary accommodation for more than six weeks, but if the property is owned or managed by a council, housing association or charity, it is exempt.

To investigate whether this loophole was being used in the capital, Inside Housing sent Freedom of Information Act requests to all 33 London boroughs.


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The responses revealed that 24 London councils own hostel-style accommodation and a further request showed that five – Camden, Lambeth, Kingston, Barking & Dagenham, and Redbridge – have used this accommodation to house families for longer than six weeks. Only eight councils were able to respond to this second request.

Lambeth Council, for example, had 104 families sharing facilities for longer than six months (see table below) in its directly owned accommodation.

Non-self contained accommodation owned or run by Lambeth Council:
Families resident longer than six weeks 135
Longer than six months 104
Families in all other non-self-contained accommodation:
Families resident longer than six weeks 9
Longer than six months 0

Source: council responses to Inside Housing information requests

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “Sadly, as with every other London borough, we have a demand for temporary accommodation that exceeds supply. The available accommodation is being used in the best way possible to ensure people have a roof over their heads.”

Camden Council had 21 families in non-self-contained temporary accommodation for more than six weeks, all in properties owned by the council. Nineteen had been there for more than six months. The council said the accommodation “bears no comparison to that provided by bed and breakfast private sector hoteliers”.

Number of hostels by London borough (click on boroughs for data)

Click here to see the full results of Inside Housing’s investigation

However, Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Spending long periods of time living in a B&B or hostel and having to share kitchens or bathrooms with strangers puts families under huge emotional and physical strain. That’s why it’s essential councils aim to move families somewhere more suitable within six weeks, even if the accommodation is council-owned.”

Charity the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust called for the exemption for council-owned hostels to be removed.

 

Inside Housing Spotlight

Inside Housing Spotlight

Inside Housing Spotlight is a series of pieces showcasing the best of our investigative and data journalism.

 

Spotlight pieces:

14 December 2018: Starting to bite - how Universal Credit is making people homeless: we reveal new figures showing a clear link between Universal Credit and homelessness

9 November 2018: First Priority - the inside story of a housing association which almost went bust When a small supported housing provider entered into a series of leasing deals with investment funds, it nearly spelled disaster for its vulnerable tenants. We investigate why.

12 October 2018: The ballad of Knowsley Housing Trust the inside story of the first housing association made non-compliant by the sector's watchdog for fire safety issues

13 September 2018: How tweaked building guidance led to combustible insulation on high rises: an investigation shows how lobbyists from the plastic insulation industry supported a quiet tweak to building guidance to permit combustible insulation on tall buildings

31 August 2018: The true cost of homelessness Freedom of Information requests reveal the soaring costs of temporary accommodation

30 August 2018: The forgotten threat to high rise tenants We investigate the threat posed by combustible window panels on social housing high rises

13 June 2018: The Biggest Ever Survey of Fire Risk Assessments Data journalism revealing widespread fire safety issues in more than 1,500 tower blocks across the country

12 April 2018: A Section 106 Story An investigation into allegations of "sham transactions" involving Section 106 deals in south London

23 March 2018: The Paper Trail: The Failure of Building Regulations A lengthy investigation into the failures of building regulation that may have contributed to the Grenfell Tower disaster, and the many missed warnings

23 February 2018: The Kingspan Papers Leaked meeting notes reveal some worrying issues, including allegations of fire safety report doctoring by manufacturers

9 February 2018: Gentoo: a Sunderland story We look back at the recent history of Sunderland’s largest housing association.

25 January 2018: Homeless families face long stays in council-owned hostels we reveal how councils in London are skirting the law by using hostels to house people in temporary accommodation for more than six weeks

7 December 2017: Council house to private rent We reveal the percentage of former Right to Buy homes in the private rented sector has passed 40%

17 November 2017: Rent to buy, or rent to rent? A look at how successful the government's Rent to Buy schemes have been

7 September 2017: Once upon a time in the west The history of KCTMO in the years before the Grenfell Tower fire

11 August: 2017 Grenfell: The paper trail - our news editor Pete Apps examines seven years of council documents to tell a story of the missed opportunites to prevent the Grenfell tragedy

4 August 2017 : Knowing the risks – the most common fire safety problems in tower blocks

26 May 2017: Rents hiked for RTB replacements – Sophie Barnes reveals less than half of Right to Buy replacement homes are for social rent

12 May 2017: A stark warning – a prescient piece looking at lessons to be learned from the Shepherds Bush tower block fire

13 April 2017: Where the axe will fall – a look at plans to axe housing benefit for younger people

10 Feb 2017: Circle of Despair – the inside story of Circle's repairs and maintenance troubles

3 Feb 2017: The Benefit Cap Tightrope – Sophie Barnes unveils the first exclusive analysis of the lower benefit cap

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