The children with nowhere to call home

Thousands of children are stuck in temporary accommodation
-Credit: (Image: Manchester Evening News)


When plans to start a new life in France fell apart during the pandemic, Nick Blake was left with nowhere else to turn. He, his wife and their six children became homeless back in Manchester.

They shared a room in a hostel. They hopped around from hotel to hotel for several weeks. Eventually, they were found a four-bedroom house in Moston.

It is classed as temporary accommodation. But after almost two-and-a-half years, the family of eight is still there.

READ MORE: One in 30 Manchester kids are trapped in a dire situation - and it keeps getting worse

"The kids are struggling and we're all stressed," Nick said. "It's impacting all of us. We want to move out, but it's taking so long."

The family is on Manchester's housing register. They've been told they're likely to be waiting for four years for a suitable property. They're not alone. Thousands of families could be waiting far longer.

The skyline of Manchester seen from Oldham.
Thousands face long waits for a home in Manchester -Credit:Adam Vaughan

As of July 15, the city had a waiting list of 17,532 households. A recent report from the town hall suggests Mancunians with a 'band two' housing need - the most common of five bands - who need a four-bedroom home are facing a wait of more than 10 years.

Nick's children were four of the 4,243 living in temporary accommodation across Manchester at the end of March 2024, according to new figures from housing charity Shelter. It means that roughly one in 30 of the city's kids are facing insecure accommodation.

Across the whole of Greater Manchester, the figure is around one in 85, with 7,679 children living in temporary accommodation at the end of March this year.

'We couldn't cook decent meals'

Nick, originally from Bristol, moved to Greater Manchester in 2007 when he left the army. He met his Mancunian wife, settled in south Manchester and worked a number of jobs as a chef, gardener and handyman. The family rented a Southway Housing Trust property in Chorlton for five years before moving to France in September 2021.

They went to join Nick's parents who were running a hotel - but amid Covid restrictions and cancelled bookings for the business, the move didn't work out. The family returned to Manchester early in 2022.

Needing a roof over their heads, they were put in a hostel. "The hostel was horrendous, the room wasn't big, it had one bed and two twin bunk beds with double beds at the bottom," Nick said.

"There was nothing for the children to do, and they couldn't use their phones because of the weak internet signal. The only cooking facilities were a microwave and a toaster, we couldn't cook decent meals there.

"We had our own toilet and shower facilities, but there were also other people in the hostel using them." Nick's family also spent time hopping between hotels before they were found their current home, which is run by Accommodation Links, a housing management firm which works with Manchester council.

From left: Mould inside Nick's home, and issues with the brickwork which he says need to be resolved
From left: Mould inside Nick's home, and issues with the brickwork which he says need to be resolved -Credit:Nick Blake

A council spokesperson said: "The situation with the use of hostels and B&B type accommodation for families, however briefly, has improved considerably since the initial experience Mr Blake says his family had in 2022. Finding temporary accommodation big enough for large families such as Mr Blake's inevitably takes longer due to a shortage of such properties.

"By the same token, the length of time spent on the housing list waiting for a suitable property to become available is likely to be significantly longer. There are 873 households on bands one and two on the waiting list for a four-bedroom house.

"Only 36 such properties became available to let last year which gives an indication of the difficulty. The family have the option of finding their own tenancy in the private rented sector, without losing their band two priority on the housing waiting list, while they are waiting for a social property to be allocated."

After six months, damp and mould began to appear in a bedroom at the property, while the family also saw rodents. Nick says the family were told they should keep their windows open and ventilate the room - but the problem persisted.

In spring 2023, mould and damp treatments were arranged, but the problem has since spread to the kitchen, Nick said, adding: "The cupboards are falling apart now, they're covered in mould. It all needs remodelling."

Nick says workers have told the family the bricks will need repointing and their roof replacing to help sort the problems, but only temporary repairs have been carried out for the brickwork so far.

A Manchester council spokesperson said: "The council carried out an inspection of the property in April this year which found that although most parts were in good condition, there were some issues including mould on the wall where the washing machine was located due to a leak which required attention.

"The landlord tried to address the mould issue, but the tenant refused to allow them to treat the mould as he wanted the kitchen cupboards replacing. All of the other issues were addressed by the landlord within less than a fortnight of the inspection. No further complaints have been made to the family's allocated support worker since then."

A spokesman for Accommodation Links added: "We take our obligations as a landlord very seriously and are committed to the well-being of our tenants. The council conducted an inspection of the property in April this year and issues highlighted, including evidence of mould in the kitchen, were all resolved within 10 days. We conducted our own inspection in June this year and carried out further works.

"A re-inspection later in June confirmed that all issues had been addressed. The tenant confirmed that the alleged rodent issue had been resolved. We have not received any further complaints from the tenant but for our reassurance, and the tenants', we will now conduct a further inspection."

'All children should grow up in a safe and secure home'

Nick's story is far from uncommon in Manchester. The city saw a peak number of 3,316 households in temporary accommodation in December 2022.

According to the latest council figures, that number fell to 2,826 by the end of June 2024. But that number is still around twice the figure who were placed in temporary accommodation in 2018, when the Manchester Evening News first highlighted the rise in family homelessness across the city.

Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says temporary accommodation can impact a child's start in life - and is too often a situation which seems anything but temporary. She said: "As a former teacher, headteacher as trust leader, I know that living in insecure or temporary accommodation can impact the lives of children and young people - it can place additional stresses on their lives, impacting their confidence, self-esteem, health and education.

"All children should grow up in a safe and secure home. For children living in temporary accommodation that too often isn’t true.

"If children are struggling to sleep in temporary accommodation it will impact their ability to concentrate in the classroom. Likewise, if children do not have anywhere suitable to do their homework or cannot access the internet for schoolwork, they may start to fall behind their peers.

Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza
Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza -Credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire

"All too often we use the term 'temporary accommodation', but [for] too many children and their families there is nothing temporary about their housing situation, with children living in hostels and B&Bs for weeks, months and in some cases even years. We need to address the crisis in housing that is seeing so many families forced into temporary accommodation, which I believe can have really worrying implications for their well-being and ultimately their education."

Nationally there has been a rise in the number of households in temporary accommodation - up by more than 13 per cent from September 2022 to December 2023. Dave Smith, chief executive of Heywood-based charity Stepping Stone, says a number of factors have led to the spike seen in recent years.

A lack of social housing, following the right to buy scheme, is at the heart of the problem. There is a lack of turnover in social housing, leading to huge waits for available homes.

An increasing population and a higher number of single-person households than in years gone by are also factors. Surging rents in the private sector have also made housing unaffordable for many in Greater Manchester - where around four per cent of homes available in the private sector are affordable to people through the local housing allowance.

Section 21 'no fault' evictions have also surged this year, with 2,916 households kicked out in this way between April and June, a six-year high. There are concerns that ahead of the government's looming ban on Section 21 evictions, another spike in evictions will be seen as landlords scramble to remove tenants.

"I think it's inevitable it will happen," Dave said. "If a landlord has got a grievance with a tenant, they'll slap the notice in while they can.

"In the long term it's the right thing to do. The government has said they want to get this into effect before June next year, but however we do it there's going to be short term pain for, hopefully, long term gain."

Dave says councils are now speaking to charities like his more and more, asking for help to find accommodation for families. It comes as local authorities across the country are facing financial strife - but the bill for housing 'keeps going up', Dave says.

Yet the toll temporary accommodation can take on a family is far more significant, while children can face a stigma around their housing situation. Many families in temporary accommodation are placed in hostels, hotels or bed and breakfasts - many with no cooking facilities, forcing them to rely on expensive and unhealthy eating options.

"The impact on families, particularly of being in hostels or hotels, is immense," Dave said. "Living in a hotel with no cooking facilities, nowhere for the kids realistically to do their homework, and no privacy. In the worst cases, families are being split.

The toll temporary accommodation can take on children is significant
The toll temporary accommodation can take on children is significant -Credit:Manchester Evening News

"Kids have got nowhere to bring their friends back to. You just put your head down and stay out of the way because of your home situation that you're ashamed of. The mental impact of that on kids, and especially parents, is hard. It stays with you for life. It's horrendous."

Manchester council has managed to reduce its reliance on bed and breakfasts as a form of temporary accommodation. A recent report showed that the in February 2023, there were 227 Manchester families living in bed and breakfasts, including 131 for more than six weeks.

By the end of June this year, there were seven families in bed and breakfasts, and none had been there for more than six weeks. That progress stands in stark contrast to the national picture - with the number of families in bed and breakfasts increasing by more than 63 per cent from September 2022 to December 2023.

By the end of March 2024, Manchester had the lowest number of families in bed and breakfast accommodation in Greater Manchester at three, and no other borough had fewer than 16. Oldham had the most, with 85 families in bed and breakfasts, followed by Rochdale and Tameside with 55 each.

But the M.E.N. understands there are concerns among charities working in the sector around the sustainability of Manchester council's approach, with one insider warning: "The system is creaking."

A recent town hall report stated that the city's homeless service sources around 1,900 properties from the private sector - paying out the rent to the landlord, while recovering what it can through housing benefit subsidy.

It comes to a net cost for the council of around £11m per year. Of the 1,900 private properties, 800 are inside Manchester - mostly in the north of the city, where rents are cheaper - while the remainder are outside of the borough.

Deputy council leader Coun Joanna Midgley said: "Homelessness remains an incredibly challenging and complex issue, and our hearts go out to anyone caught up in it, but it is worth pointing out that we have seen a slight decrease in the number of households in temporary accommodations from its peak in 2022 at a time when figures are soaring upwards in many other places.

"We want every child in the city to have a settled and secure home. There are still too many people experiencing homelessness in Manchester and too many families with children in temporary accommodation but there are signs of progress.

"We recognised that the use of B&B-type accommodation for families was unsuitable and through a concerted effort have all but eradicated it. It’s gone down from more than 200 families in this position in December 2022 to almost none in June 2024. As well as being better for families, it has also saved millions of pounds.

"This has been achieved - and sustained - by reaching families facing homelessness earlier when more can be done to help them; changes to our social housing allocation policy which allow families to keep the same status on the waiting list without having to move into temporary accommodation and freeing up existing temporary accommodation by supporting people into settled homes at an improved rate."

'Not cutting costs at people's expense'

The council hopes to secure hundreds of properties in this way on long-term leases of 10 years. The recent report also highlights a legal position stating that while 'a bed and breakfast placement can never be suitable' for people in need of housing, 'a self-contained accommodation placement out of district can be suitable'.

Regarding the cost to the council, Coun Midgley said: "Against a challenging backdrop, which is seeing many councils struggling with spiralling temporary accommodation costs, we are managing to keep costs within budget. The cost of temporary accommodation has decreased from £23.4m last year to a projected £18.4m this year.

"This is of course still a significant amount of money and will require concerted focus to contain. But the key to this will be continuing to help people more effectively - not cutting costs at their expense."

There are concerns about the standards of properties being used as temporary accommodation, however, with issues such as damp, mould, disrepair and rodents previously reported by residents. Sam Pratt, policy and communications lead at Oldham-based Shared Health Foundation, says that while demand for temporary accommodation has risen in the last decade, so too have poor conditions and overcrowding.

He said: "Section 21s are part of it, landlords are evicting people left right and centre, so you'll get a lot of families going into temporary accommodation because they've got nowhere else to go. There's a chronic lack of social housing across the UK, and the right to buy has really impacted the stock of social housing across the country.

"People are going into temporary accommodation for years because there's nowhere to move on to. We see so many pregnant women going into temporary accommodation trying to flee domestic violence, and the conditions they are put in are really poor because there's a lack of regulation in the temporary accommodation sector.

Standards in temporary accommodation are a concern for many
Standards in temporary accommodation are a concern for many -Credit:Manchester Evening News

"Some temporary accommodation is council stock but the majority is in the private sector which is largely unregulated and so any condition of housing is there. It's not just the standards of accommodation, but the system is very broken and very complex, families get stuck for years without any support."

The Shared Health Foundation has highlighted a link between temporary accommodation and sudden infant death syndrome in recent years. Data released by the National Child Mortality Database and shared with ITV in April revealed that at least 55 children had died in England since 2019, with temporary accommodation a key contributing factor.

"You could get a mum with three kids - she's pregnant and she's got a baby and a three-year-old - but she'll get put in a one bed flat so it's automatically overcrowded," said Sam. "Cots and moses baskets didn't have to be provided in temporary accommodation, and we saw that 55 children had died in temporary accommodation, with their accommodation being one of the causes of their deaths.

"Forty-two of them were babies. The government at the time changed the guidance for local authorities, but babies still constantly get forgotten in terms of homelessness policy.

"And we're still mixing vulnerable single males with families in B&Bs across the country, not just in Greater Manchester. It's a huge safeguarding risk that we've been banging on about for seven years."

Manchester council insists it inspects properties that are provided before tenants move in 'to ensure it is in suitable condition'. Coun Midgley added: "If any issues arise while households are living there, we expect landlords to resolve them as quickly as possible but if there are any concerns about this they can be raised with support workers to address.

"The standards required and the obligation to maintain them are made clear to landlords in their contracts.” The town hall also says it is reducing bed and breakfast usage 'significantly and sustainably'.

It now wants to reduce the number of people who are in temporary accommodation placements outside of the city - with plans to increase the supply of properties in Manchester, transform suitable, disused council properties into accommodation and bring long-term empty properties back into use. But the town hall admits it will take two or three years of this work to make a significant difference.

“Pressure on temporary accommodation caused by demand relative to availability means that people facing homelessness are sometimes accommodated in neighbouring parts of Greater Manchester," said Coun Midgley. "The number of households in out-of-area placements has gone down slightly in recent months but at just over 1,000 it is still too many.

Coun Joanna Midgley
Coun Joanna Midgley -Credit:Anthony Moss | Manchester Evening News

"We know that out-of-area placements are far from ideal and can impact on the education and wider welfare of those households. That’s why we are working hard to reduce them. Now that the use of B&Bs for families has been all but eliminated, we are making it a major focus to increase the supply of suitable temporary accommodation across Manchester.

"We’re doing this through a range of measures - from supporting the development of self-contained homes for families to converting surplus or disused council-owned buildings into temporary accommodation. But this issue cannot be cracked overnight and will take concerted focus for an estimated two to three years.

"Manchester has faced a particular challenge with high demand for properties across the city and high housing market rents, which cannot be met through benefits, combined with the impacts of 14 years of austerity and a cost-of-living crisis. There are long waiting lists for social houses, including for those in temporary accommodation.

"As a city, we are building more social, council and genuinely affordable homes now than at any point in the last 15 years. Given the right funding and support we can do even more.

"Improving real housing choice is one part of the solution to homelessness as is prevention but there is much more than can be implemented, some of it quite quickly, to address the underlying issues which are driving the problem nationally. We welcome the government’s move to ban Section 21 (no fault) evictions and look forward to working with them to support a national homelessness policy."