Some 39 households were living in temporary accommodation, including in hostels or bed and breakfasts, as of the end of March, according to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures. Of these, 13 households had 32 children – up from 20 a year earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Burnley Express, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Labour described the homelessness crisis as a "national scandal" as the number of children living in temporary accommodation hit a record high. Big Issue founder and crossbench peer Lord Bird, who has spoken out about his experience of growing up in poverty, described the latest figures as "appalling" and warned that "another winter looms and there’s little being done to turn this terrible tide. "The time for nebulous homelessness taskforces and woolly cross-government strategies is over.
This is an urgent and immediate crisis, on which our new government must act now." In Burnley , 17 households were living in B&B hotels as of March. Advertisement Advertisement By law, B&Bs are meant to be used only for families in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks.
But across England, the number of households with children exceeding that timeframe has rocketed by 80% from 1,810 in 2023 to 3,250 this year. None of these were in Burnley. Housing charity Shelter said this Government must "tackle the housing emergency head on".
Chief executive Polly Neate sai.