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The official figures are all headed in the wrong direction. The number of households in temporary accommodation are now at record levels: 104,510 at the last count following an upward journey that began in 2010.

This figure includes 131,370 children, thousands of whom were in the worst kind – bed and breakfast-style accommodation – which can see them crammed into a single room with their parents, siblings, and all their belongings.

After being frozen for years, local housing allowance no longer covers market rents in many areas, leaving increasing numbers of authorities with little choice but to re-house homeless households outside their areas, cutting them off from their families, friends and support networks.

And as demand spirals, councils must also now contend with a relatively new challenging trend. Private landlords have begun demanding back the properties on which councils previously relied.

With such worrying trends, it’s no surprise that the topic of temporary accommodation has attracted the attention of researchers and the media, an interest that’s casting new light on this ballooning crisis and its real-life impact on the individuals and families caught up in it.

So, what do we know about the state of temporary accommodation and its harmful effects on those living in it? And against this backdrop of spiralling demand and decreasing supply, is there anything more that social landlords can do to help those who get stuck in it?

To help find solutions to the temporary accommodation crisis, HQN has put together this event to explore ways that local authorities, housing associations, the NHS are working in partnership to address the situation in different parts of the country.

Key sessions and speakers include:

Sam Pratt, Policy and Communications lead at SharedHealth. SharedHealth is a charity providing support for families in temporary accommodation and part of the secretariate for the All Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation. Sam will present the findings from the research for the All Parliamentary Group,  its recommendations, and the charity’s own experience of helping families in temporary accommodation in the Manchester area.

Rob McCartney, Assistant Director for homelessness, Manchester City Council. Rob will outline how Manchester’s new approach to temporary accommodation which was introduced this year has led to a sharp reduction in the use of bed & breakfast accommodation, especially for families.

Jon Pritchard, Associate Director of Housing & Community Inclusion, at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust – Council Officers from New Forest District Council. This session will explore the joint working between New Forest District Council, Hampshire County Council, and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust to end the revolving doors of temporary accommodation and homelessness of people with mental ill health under his hospital’s care.

Signe Gosmann, Network Development and Researcher, at Justlife Foundation, a charity supporting mainly single household in Brighton and Manchester, and part of the secretariate for the APPG on Temporary Accommodation. Signe will give an overview of its work helping single homeless households in temporary accommodation and also its network of TAAG (Temporary Accommodation Action Groups).

The event will be chaired by housing journalist Keith Cooper who has carried out extensive research into the temporary accommodation crisis. He will talk about some of his findings and examine the drivers behind the surge and record-breaking levels of temporary accommodation and why it is receiving so much media coverage.

This event is essential for everyone working in a council or registered provider with responsibility for temporary accommodation or in a strategy/policy role.

10.00 Welcome from the Chair

• • Keith Cooper, Housing Journalist

10.05 The impact of temporary accommodation

• • Keith Cooper, Housing Journalist

10.35 The impacts of ‘out of area’ temporary accommodation and potential mitigation

• • Helen Lawrence, Homelessness Researcher

11.05 Break

11.15 The impact of temporary accommodation on children

• • Sam Pratt, Policy and Communications Lead, SharedHealth Foundation

11.45 Manchester’s new approach

• • Shea Garvey, Prevention Team Manager, Manachester City Council

  • Tara Stewart-Milne, Manchester City Council

12.15 Break

12.30 Creative collaborations – Health, housing and more

• • Jon Pritchard, Associate Director of Housing and Community Inclusion, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

13.00 Helping single homeless households

• • Signe Gosmann, Network Development and Researcher, Justlife Foundation

13.30 Final thoughts and questions – closing remarks from the Chair

• • Keith Cooper, Housing Journalist

Keith Cooper, Housing Journalist

Keith Cooper is a freelance investigative journalist, researcher, and writer specialising in housing, homelessness, and mental health care. His work has been covered by national media and cited in newspaper editorials, Parliament, official reports, medical journals, and academic textbooks. He has worked as an editor and reporter on the Health Service Journal, Inside Housing, and Local Government Chronicle magazines. He has spent the last year investigating and writing about the increasing use of temporary accommodation, including the escalating use of out-of-area placements and the hidden impact of poor quality housing on child development and the safety of babies. His work points out good practice as it exposes shortfalls in provision. Before training as a journalist, Keith worked as a diagnostic radiographer for the NHS.

Sam Pratt, Policy and Communications Lead, SharedHealth Foundation

Sam Pratt is the Policy and Communications Lead for Shared Health Foundation. Shared Health is a clinically led, evidence based not-for-profit based in Oldham, Greater Manchester and whose aim is to reduce the impact of poverty on health. Sam has a passion for social justice and tackling health inequalities in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

Jon Pritchard, Associate Director of Housing and Community Inclusion, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Jon previously worked for a national provider of housing and care & support.  His housing background enables him to see the flow and capacity challenges of the NHS through the lens of the ‘home’.

His role at Southern Health is fairly unique within the NHS, providing a strategic lead on housing solutions and complementary partnerships for service users and colleagues.

Understanding the impact of having precarious, volatile, or no housing enables him to create solutions that move away from purely medical models of health and wellbeing to social models which embed health.

Helen Lawrence, Homelessness Researcher

Helen Lawrence is a homelessness researcher who has recently undertaken a project with Dr Steve Iafrati at The University of Nottingham on ‘out of area’ accommodation looking at the prevalence and impacts of households who are placed away from their own local authority area.

Her previous front-line work with rough sleepers enables her to more deeply understand some of the greatest challenges within the sector and allows her to develop and maintain strong connections with stakeholders who are motivated to improve services and legislation related to homelessness.

Helen is passionate about understanding those who have severe and multiple disadvantage and are exposed to homelessness in all forms and is strong in her opinion that research and potential solutions must include the voice of those who have been impacted.

Signe Gosmann, Network Development and Researcher, Justlife Foundation

Shea Garvey, Prevention Team Manager, Manachester City Council

Tara Stewart-Milne, Manchester City Council

If you are unable to attend an event or public training course, please let us know in writing (email is fine) at least 48 hours before. Please email [email protected]

Otherwise, a cancellation fee of £60 plus VAT will be chargeable.

If you are using a package place to attend and do not inform us within the agreed time frame, then a place will be taken to cover your non-attendance.

Cancellations must be made in writing, and will be acknowledged by HQN Limited.