A huge rise in the number of people living in temporary accommodation has led to mounting costs for Milton Keynes City Council, a new investigation has revealed.
More than 900 households are now staying in temporary premises in the city the report, by legal specialists Personal Injury Claims UK, has found. And that has left MKCC with a £15 million bill.
Temporary accommodation (TA) is the term used to describe accommodation secured by a local housing authority under their statutory homelessness functions. The new figures show that 960 households in MK currently need this help.
The data comes with the news that, across the UK, the number of homeless people in local authority-provided TA rose to record levels. In 2023, about 109,000 households in England – including 142,000 children – were in emergency housing between June and September, up 10% on the same period the previous year.
In 2021/22, the number of households staying in TA in Milton Keynes had stood at 866, and a year later, this decreased to 823, the lowest number for three years. But in the last 12 months, the city has seen a rise in the number of TA residents.
When authorities run out of immediate space in specific TA premises, other types of accommodation are used to house people such as hotels and B&B properties. Across England in the past year, 50,546 people have lived in hotel accommodation, up 10% from the previous year.
Personal Injury Claims UK found that in 2021/22, TA cost Milton Keynes Council £14,722,000 but this figure increased to £15,479,000 a year later. The cost of TA has now jumped to £15,569,000 in 2023/24.
