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Thousands of homeless children will continue to live in bed and breakfast accommodation despite the government's pledge to end long-term B&B for families, children’s charity Barnardo’s has claimed.

From April,  councils in England can place families with children or pregnant women in B&B temporary accommodation for a maximum of six weeks.

However, Barnardo's estimates that up to 9,000 families will remain in B&B and B&B-type accommodation after this date because the pledge does not cover all homeless families.

Alan Coombe, principal policy officer at the charity, said the narrow definitions used by the government mean only half of homeless families will be helped. Living in B&B puts families under multiple pressures and has serious consequences for the health, education and well-being of children, he added. 

Families not covered by the government pledge include those accommodated by local authority social services and by the National Asylum Support Service, said Barnardo’s

Also the pledge relates only to private sector B&B, and does not include families in public sector temporary accommodation, such as hostels, where the conditions can be as bad or worse.


This leaves a loophole for local housing authorities which can continue to use this type of accommodation while appearing to meet their obligations under the pledge, said the charity.
Barnardo's has called for the government to extend the new law to cover all families housed in B&B, and public sector accommodation where conditions are similar to those in private B&Bs.