Response 3967566

Response to request for information

Reference

3967566

Response date

14 April 2026

Request

For the purposes of this request, temporary accommodation means accommodation arranged or secured by the authority to meet homelessness duties, including, where used, B&Bs/hotels, hostels, nightly-paid accommodation, private sector leased accommodation, self-contained temporary accommodation and any other temporary placements.

Please provide the following information for each of the last two complete financial years:

• 2023/24
• 2024/25

And, where readily available, please also provide 2025/26 year-to-date figures up to your latest complete month, shown separately.

Please provide:

1. The number of households placed in temporary accommodation at any point during each period.
   If held, please also provide the figure for households with dependent children.
2. The number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of each period.
   If held, please also provide the figure for households with dependent children.
3. The total number of inspections, checks or other property standards / health and safety visits carried out in relation to temporary accommodation during each period.
4. The number of temporary accommodation properties, placements or cases where serious hazards were identified during each period.
   If your authority records these differently, please provide the closest equivalent measure used.
5. The number of complaints or reports received relating to the condition, health or safety of temporary accommodation during each period.
6. The number of formal enforcement actions taken in relation to temporary accommodation properties during each period.
   If possible, please include the total number and, where readily available, a breakdown by type of action.
7. For 2024/25 only, if readily available, please provide the main issue types identified in temporary accommodation, for example:
   • damp and mould
   • fire safety
   • electrical safety
   • heating / hot water failure
   • pests / infestation
   • overcrowding / space standards
   • structural hazards
8. For 2024/25 only, if readily available, please provide:
   • the number of complaints relating specifically to damp and mould
   • the number of complaints relating specifically to fire safety
   • the average or median time to first response for condition-related complaints
9. For 2024/25 only, if readily available, please provide the number of temporary accommodation providers or landlords that were:
   • removed from use due to standards or condition concerns, or
   • subject to a formal “do not use” decision or equivalent

Response

1. The number of households placed in temporary accommodation at any point during each period.
   • 2023/24 - 64
   • 2024/25 - 74
2. The number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of each period.
   • 2023/24 - 12
   • 2024/25 - 10
3. The total number of inspections, checks or other property standards / health and safety visits carried out in relation to temporary accommodation during each period.
   • The Council uses a mix of temporary accommodation, the majority of which is private sector bed and breakfast or hotel accommodation located outside the borough.
     Where temporary accommodation is located outside the local authority’s area, property standards and health and safety checks (for example, Housing Health and Safety Rating System inspections or environmental health enforcement) are the responsibility of the host local authority. As such, the Council does not hold centralised data on the number of inspections or checks carried out by those authorities.
     For the Council’s own temporary accommodation family hostel, health and safety checks are carried out on a planned basis appropriate to the function being checked. This includes:
     • Daily checks (for example, fire alarm panel checks),
     • Weekly or monthly checks (for example, fire alarms),
     • Periodic statutory checks (for example, legionella risk assessments).
   • These checks are undertaken as part of routine building management and compliance regimes and are not recorded as a single aggregated annual inspection figure. Therefore, the Council does not hold the requested data in the specific format requested.
4. The number of temporary accommodation properties, placements or cases where serious hazards were identified during each period.
   
   • The Council does not hold aggregated data identifying the number of serious hazards in temporary accommodation across all placements. For private sector temporary accommodation located outside the borough, responsibility for identifying and recording serious hazards rests with the relevant host local authority. For the Council’s own temporary accommodation family hostel, no serious hazards requiring enforcement action were identified during the periods requested.
5. The number of complaints or reports received relating to the condition, health or safety of temporary accommodation during each period.
   • 2023/24 - 0 formal complaints
   • 2024/25 - 0 formal complaints
     The Council has not received any formal complaints relating to condition, health or safety issues in respect of its own temporary accommodation hostel during these periods. Any concerns raised in relation to private sector temporary accommodation located outside the borough would be managed by the accommodation provider or the relevant host local authority and are not recorded centrally by the Council as formal complaints.
6. The number of formal enforcement actions taken in relation to temporary accommodation properties during each period.
   If possible, please include the total number and, where readily available, a breakdown by type of action.
   • 2023/24 - 0
   • 2024/25 - 0
     The Council has not taken any formal enforcement action in relation to temporary accommodation properties during the periods requested. For private sector temporary accommodation outside the borough, any enforcement action would be the responsibility of the host local authority.
7. For 2024/25 only, if readily available, please provide the main issue types identified in temporary accommodation, for example:

   • The Council does not hold aggregated data categorising issues in temporary accommodation by type (for example damp and mould, fire safety, electrical safety, etc). No significant or recurring issue themes requiring formal action were identified in relation to the Council’s own temporary accommodation hostel during 2024/25.

8. For 2024/25 only, if readily available, please provide:
   • the number of complaints relating specifically to damp and mould - zero
   • the number of complaints relating specifically to fire safety - zero
   • the average or median time to first response for condition-related complaints - No formal condition related complaints were received during 2024/25, there is therefore no data on complaint response times for this period.
9. For 2024/25 only, if readily available, please provide the number of temporary accommodation providers or landlords that were:
   • removed from use due to standards or condition concerns -  zero
   • subject to a formal “do not use” decision or equivalent - zero
   • No temporary accommodation providers or landlords were removed from use or made subject to a formal "do not use" decision during 2024/25.