More than 172,000 children are now living in temporary accommodation across England, marking a new record high that campaigners say represents nearly double the capacity of Wembley Stadium. The figure of 172,420 dependent children reflects the scale of homelessness affecting families at the end of June.
This represents a continuing upward trend that has persisted quarterly since 2021, with homelessness charities describing the situation as a crisis requiring urgent government intervention. The numbers highlight growing pressures on housing availability and affordability across the country.
Calls for government action
Campaigners are pressing Chancellor Rachel Reeves to unfreeze housing benefit in next month's Budget and demanding the government publish its long-awaited homelessness strategy. The calls come as charities express frustration with the escalating crisis affecting vulnerable families.
Matt Downie, Crisis charity chief executive, said: "Tragically we have now become totally accustomed to seeing record levels of children growing up in temporary accommodation. We are talking about children with no space to play, no place to do homework, no safe, stable place to call home. So we have to ask, as living costs increase and the supply of social homes recedes, when this will end?"
Scale of the crisis
The overall number of households in temporary accommodation reached 132,410 at the end of June, representing a 1.2% increase from the previous quarter and a 7.6% rise from the same period last year. Of these, 84,240 households included children, according to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data published on Thursday.
Shelter's director of campaigns and policy, Mairi MacRae, said: "It's utterly shameful that the number of children homeless could now fill a city the size of Oxford." The JustFair charity called the figures "a national disgrace" and warned the number of children represents "the equivalent of filling Wembley Stadium almost twice over with homeless children".
Housing solutions demanded
Charities are calling for specific policy changes including unfreezing local housing allowance to cover at least the bottom third of local rents. They also want a national target of 90,000 social rent homes built annually for ten years to address the shortage of affordable housing.
Social housing provider Riverside described the situation as a "humanitarian crisis", noting there are "enough homeless children living in temporary accommodation (TA) in England to fill both Wembley Stadium and Twickenham". The Salvation Army emphasised that every child "deserves a safe and stable home and this should not be their burden to carry".
Government response
Some areas showed improvement, with households in bed and breakfast accommodation falling to 14,250 at the end of June, down from 18,370 the previous year. Households with children in B&B accommodation dropped 43.5% to 3,340 from 5,910 over the same period.
Homelessness Minister Alison McGovern said: "Today's statistics are a harsh reminder that too many have been let down by the system meant to protect them." She outlined government plans including investing £1bn in 2025/26, building 1.5 million homes, and scrapping Section 21 evictions to address the crisis.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
