Data released today (27 November 2025) by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) which covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 has shown that a record number of households were in temporary accommodation in England.
According to the data, 130,890 households were living in temporary accommodation on 31 March 2025, which is an increase of 11.5% on the same period the year before.
The statistics also show that:
– 330,410 households were supported by their local council to prevent or relieve their homelessness in 2024-2025. This remains very similar to duties owed in 2023-24 (up 0.9%)
Of those households offered support:
– 147,870 households were deemed at risk of homelessness and therefore owed a prevention duty – marginally up by 0.3% from the same period the year before
– 182,540 households were deemed already homeless and therefore owed a relief duty – up 1.4% from on 2023-24
Further data revealed that:
– In April 2024 to March 2025, ‘end of private rented Assured Shorthold Tenancy’ was the most common reason for households being owed a prevention duty. These households made up well over a third (38.7%) of those owed a prevention duty in the year
– Notably, households owed a prevention duty due to being required to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support increased by 10.7% to 3,820 households
– Households owed a prevention duty due to departure from institution (including custody, hospitals and looked after child placement) increased 25.5% to 4,430
– The most common support need for adult only households was a history of mental health problems, accounting for 72,140 or 32.5% of households offered support for homelessness.
Responding to the data, Emma Haddad, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said:
“The record numbers of people trapped in temporary accommodation in 2024 lays bare the true scale of our worsening homelessness crisis.
Thousands of people are now spending years in hotel rooms and B&Bs – languishing in stop-gap housing that cannot provide the firm foundations they need to recover from their homelessness.
Added to those sofa surfing or sleeping on the streets, homelessness in all its forms is spiralling. At St Mungo’s, our frontline teams are working with people at the sharpest end of the crisis.
We see how detrimental even a brief experience of homelessness can be. The longer someone spends in the limbo of temporary accommodation, the more vulnerable they become to poor health, and the greater their risk of returning to homelessness.
Combined with an overstretched and overburdened support system, it’s not hard to see why people are struggling to access the housing, healthcare and stability they need.
More social and affordable housing will offer a long-term solution. But for the thousands already affected by homelessness and teetering on its brink, specialist support that’s accessible right now is essential if we’re to help people to break the cycle.
Homelessness services need flexible, sustainable investment so organisations like St Mungo’s can guarantee the future of its specialist support within communities.
The long-awaited Government homelessness strategy will be critical to addressing the root causes of the issue, including the many preventable cases in which people are discharged from institutions – such as prisons, hospitals and Home Office accommodation – straight into homelessness, a practice that rose significantly in 2024.
St Mungo’s is ready to work with our partners across Government and the wider sector to end homelessness for good.”
