Christmas: '80,000 Children' May Be Homeless

More than 80,000 children in the UK will spend this Christmas in temporary accommodation, Shelter has warned.

The homelessness charity has launched an emergency appeal following an investigation into what it described as the "shocking conditions that many homeless children will be living in this Christmas".

The charity spent time with 25 families living temporarily in B&Bs, up to half of whom complained of having to share a bathroom and kitchen with strangers.

Some 22 of the families said it was difficult to find a safe place for their children to play, while those with children of school age said there was nowhere for them to do homework.

One mother told Shelter she was "scared" for her son after being evicted by their landlord and relocated to temporary accommodation in Hounslow, west London.

Joan, a GP receptionist from Hillingdon, said of her seven-year-old boy: "He's getting really pale and is so tired all the time. He gets so scared but it's difficult when I'm scared myself.

"This is no place for a child to live. We're desperately hoping we won't be here for Christmas."

Erika Rudash, who was homeless last year with her five-year-old daughter Evelina, spent four months over the festive season in a B&B in Worthing where she said they shared a toilet with 30 other people.

She told Sky News: "I didn't have a Christmas ... I tried my best for my daughter. It was very, very tough for her.

"A couple of times I was crying, not because of me but because I couldn't do anything to help her."

Shelter's warning follows figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government that show 82,528 children were in temporary accommodation in March this year.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: "Parents and children sharing beds, children forced to eat on the floor and being threatened with violence in the place they live: this shouldn't be happening in 21st century Britain."

Mike Jones, chairman of the Local Government Association's environment and housing board, said Shelter's report highlighted the need for house-building to be "a national priority".

"No council ever wants to place a family in bed and breakfast accommodation but, with growing demand for help and a chronic shortage of affordable housing, this is sometimes the only option available to keep a family together with a roof over their heads."

Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said: "We've given councils nearly £1bn to tackle homelessness, and to support people affected by the welfare reforms so I am very clear that they should be fully able to meet their legal responsibility to house families in suitable accommodation.

"Families should only be placed in bed and breakfast accommodation in an emergency, and even then for no more than six weeks.

"The funding we've given, and our change in the law to enable families to be placed in suitable, affordable private rented homes, means there is no excuse for councils to breach this."