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Pressure on councils to move families out of bed and breakfast accommodation has taken attention away from 16- and 17-year-olds living in similar conditions, homeless charities have warned, writes Shirley Kumar. 

Centrepoint said that councils were reshuffling priority groups following the introduction in April of the six-week time limit on housing families in B&B accommodation, and may have been prevented from looking for suitable alternatives for other vulnerable groups.

The charity believes placing 16- to 17-year-olds in B&B accommodation could place this vulnerable group at “serious risk of abuse”, and is calling for the government to set targets to end the practice.

The call follows publication of official statistics for the first quarter of 2004, which include the number of single vulnerable people placed in B&Bs.

At least 17 councils have been identified as placing more than 100 vulnerable people, including 16-17 year-olds, in B&Bs since January this year.

The worst London councils include Westminster (513), Lambeth (347, of whom 84 are 16- or 17-year-olds) and Camden (297). Outside London, Brighton and Hove has 200 (26 of whom are 16 and 17 year-olds), Bristol has 178, and Redbridge has 133 (of whom 16 are 16- or 17-year-olds).

Centrepoint is also calling for housing departments to work more closely with the voluntary sector and social service departments to ensure the needs of the vulnerable are met because the process “is patchy in some areas”.


Director of services Rebecca Pritchard said that although the Children’s Act 1989 required social services to undertake child in need assessments, and the Homelessness Act 2002 stated that homeless 16- and 17 year-olds should be considered priority for rehousing by councils, “a lack of co-ordination between the departments could lead to homeless 16- and 17-year-olds being passed from pillar to post and straight into the cycle of homelessness”.

Crisis, which is due to launch its Hidden Homeless report later this month, added: “Whilst 16- to 17-year-olds are a particularly vulnerable group, it would be important that a target to reduce the number of single homeless people staying in B&Bs be extended to cover all of those affected by this problem.”