Rising Number of Children in Temporary Accommodation in Walsall

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New figures reveal that more children in Walsall are living in temporary accommodation, highlighting growing concerns about affordable housing across England.

Data released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows that at the end of March 2025, 253 children in Walsall were housed in temporary accommodation. This marks an increase from 217 children in the same period last year. Temporary accommodation is a form of homelessness where families and individuals are housed in non-permanent residences while waiting for more stable housing.

The rise in Walsall reflects a wider national trend. Across England, the number of children living in temporary accommodation reached a record high of 169,050 in March, up from 151,630 a year earlier. This is the highest figure recorded since records began in 1998.

Shelter, the housing charity, warned that thousands of children face the prospect of spending a “long summer stuck in damaging and insecure” accommodation. The organisation called on the Government to urgently increase its plans to build social homes, which provide affordable and secure housing for vulnerable families.

Mairi MacRae, Shelter’s director of campaigns and policy, described the figures as “devastating” and attributed the increase to a severe shortage of social rented homes and inadequate housing benefits. She urged the Government to unfreeze the local housing allowance in the upcoming Autumn Budget to cover at least the bottom third of local rents. MacRae emphasised that long-term solutions require a significant expansion of social rent homes to ensure all families have access to safe and stable housing.

In Walsall, local authority assessments found 70 households were threatened with homelessness and owed a prevention duty at the end of March 2025. This is a decrease from 102 households in the previous year. Among these households, 24 were headed by single parents and 20 were couples with dependent children.

Nationally, 37,610 households were recorded as being at risk of homelessness and owed prevention duties, marking a 4.5 per cent decline compared with the same quarter in 2024.

John Glenton, executive director of Riverside, a charity providing housing support for those affected by homelessness, expressed concern over the rising numbers of children in temporary accommodation. He acknowledged the challenge but noted some progress.

“It is particularly disappointing to see the number of additional homeless children living in temporary accommodation continuing to increase so rapidly,” he said. “However, the number of homeless households moved out of temporary accommodation into social housing has increased by almost an eighth over the past 12 months compared to the previous year.”

Glenton added that moving families into social rent homes is an effective way to end homelessness, calling for better use of existing social housing stock alongside building new homes.

As the figures show, the issue of housing insecurity remains pressing for many families in Walsall and across England. The calls from housing charities emphasise the need for immediate Government action to support affordable housing and prevent more families from falling into temporary accommodation.