MPs have warned the government about the 'devastating' state of temporary accommodation in the UK, with new figures showing 104 children died between April 2019 and March 2025 where temporary accommodation was a contributing factor to their vulnerability, ill-health, or death. The data, from the National Child Mortality Database, was published by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Households in Temporary Accommodation, which described the finding as 'absolutely scandalous'.
Temporary accommodation, a form of hidden homelessness, includes bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) and hostels. The number of children in such accommodation in England reached a record high of 175,990 at the end of September 2024, a 7 per cent rise on the previous year, according to Ministry of Housing data. The APPG also noted that between October 2023 and September 2025, 140 children whose main residence was temporary accommodation had died, with assessments ongoing to determine if living conditions contributed.
APPG chairwoman Dame Siobhain McDonagh said she was 'appalled to see yet another rise in the number of children whose deaths have been linked to temporary accommodation'. A separate report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee warned that conditions in temporary accommodation are 'often so poor as to be unfit for human habitation'. Its chair, Florence Eshalomi, said: 'It is truly devastating that this crisis has become a normalised emergency.'
Housing charity Shelter called it a 'national scandal for any child to die homeless in this country', blaming a 'dire lack of secure and genuinely affordable social homes'. Homelessness minister Alison McGovern said: 'It breaks my heart that B&Bs are tragically contributing to the deaths of children. We must and we are improving the whole system.' She highlighted the government's child poverty strategy, which pledges to 'eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation' and continue an £8 million pilot programme across 20 local authorities.
