Almost 2,000 children are in temporary homes in Brighton and Hove, according to figures published by the government.
The number in hostels, bed and breakfasts and emergency and temporary accommodation is far higher in Brighton and Hove City Council than most other parts of the country.
At the end of June 1,938 children were in temporary accommodation locally, with the figure forecast to top 2,000 by Christmas.
One housing campaigner said: “The use of temporary accommodation in Brighton and Hove is (excluding London) 12 times greater than the national average.
“The ending of an assured shorthold tenancy with a private landlord was the most common reason for the loss of the last settled home in the second quarter of 2016.”
Councillor Anne Meadows, who chairs the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee, told BBC Sussex this morning (Monday 3 October): “It’s not ideal.”
She said that 26,000 people were on the council housing waiting list but vacancies were running at about 700 a year.
With too few suitable properties, the alternative was offering mothers with babies or young children homes outside the area which wasn’t a popular option.
According to the figures, published last week by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), 130 families were homeless and in priority need.
Cllr Anne Meadows accused Cllr Joe Miller of playing games at a recent Committee meeting.She should allow the residents of her constituency to play games at Wild Park but chooses others from outside of The City to have preference.
BHCC spends millions on privately run, poor quality (often revolting), “temporary” accommodation provided by unscrupulous private landlords (also known as slum landlords). There are no minimum quality standards for the state of the accommodation other than the safety requirements required for the HMO licence (fire, damp). A fire door can be smeared with excrement, and that is OK as long as it meets the fire safety standard. Most of the millions spent by BHCC housing is as “spot purchasing” – no contracts, no procurement involvement, no benchmarks for value to money for the taxpayer and indefensible for any organisation handling public funds. Wide open to financial impropriety (corruption investigations in BHCC housing are ongoing). In addition, other councils in the South East (e.g. mid-Sussex, Crawley) also house hundreds of “households” in privately run HMOs in the city without any consultation with BHCC. These “placements” also sap B&H resources (community safety etc). A far-reaching enquiry should undertaken (including all the deaths and serious incidents, as well as cosy relationships with private landlords).