Parenting a young child is difficult enough. But imagine taking care of a baby inside a single bedroom shared with two or three older siblings. The bathroom and kitchen are communal, so you either have to carry the child with you or lock them in the bedroom. When you need to wash yet another set of the baby’s clothes or sterilise their bottle, you must do so using a tiny sink and a kettle in your bedroom.
That is what one woman told me it is like living in a temporary accommodation hostel with her young children in England. When I interviewed her, she detailed how, in the first months of bringing up her newborn son, she worried for his safety and health, specifically because of that accommodation. Her story is not unique: a recent investigation by my colleagues at Inside Housing found more than 35,000 households like hers, living in temporary accommodation with children under five across England, Scotland and Wales in 2023.
We conducted this research because there is no regularly published data on the numbers of families with young children and babies in temporary accommodation – the quarterly government dataset doesn’t distinguish between babies and teenagers. That is surprising, considering we know the early years are so pivotal to a child’s development, providing a critical foundation to their learning, health and behaviour for the rest of their lives.
Our investigation also found almost 2,400 families with young children living in B&Bs – temporary accommodation that is rented by councils, where families will usually have only one room plus other shared facilities. Families have told us that living in close quarters in B&Bs and hotels makes it a nightmare to get a baby to sleep. Everyone sharing one bedroom – frequently upwards of five people – means that if the baby doesn’t sleep, none of the other children do either.
In a B&B, there may be multiple fire doors between the bedroom and the communal bathroom, making toilet training near impossible, leaving some children to learn to use a potty in a cupboard. The lack of space in the bedroom limits the child’s ability to learn to crawl and walk, let alone play, all potentially contributing to significant development issues.
The government knows this is unacceptable – which is why it is illegal to keep children in shared accommodation for more than six weeks. And yet we found that in England nearly two-thirds of families with young children had been in B&Bs more than six weeks. In London it was even worse, with a third living in B&Bs for more than six months.
Even if a family does get housed in appropriate, self-contained temporary accommodation, those properties are commonly in poor condition, infested with mice and cockroaches, with poor insulation making it dangerously hot or cold, or with severe damp or mould – all of which pose significant health risks to babies and young children, whose immune systems are not yet fully developed. Often the temporary accommodation does not provide a cot, so babies don’t have a safe place to sleep: the government recently published guidance on this, but it is still not strictly enforced.
We need detailed data on the number of families in these living conditions so we can truly understand the extent of the damage this may have done to hundreds of thousands of children across a generation. We need it not least because these conditions could be deadly. Between 2019 and 2023, temporary accommodation was a factor in the deaths of 55 children, 42 of whom were less than a year old.
We have to know more. It’s terrifying to think there are councils that don’t have a record of the number of toddlers and babies living in these conditions, especially when you consider that in some areas, tens of thousands of people are living in temporary accommodation with their children.
As journalists, it’s our job to hold the government to account – that’s why we undertook this investigation. But without an imperative for the government or councils to compile such data, journalists can only go so far – a third of councils told us they were unable to provide the numbers, because they would have to go through every family’s paperwork manually.
The data the government has speaks volumes about what its priorities are. Without it, how will the public make sure the government holds up its promises? The housing crisis means there are tens of thousands of babies and toddlers living in a state of huge upheaval, in homes that are damaging their health and development every week they spend there.
As the general election campaign begins in earnest, I’m sure we will hear much from all parties about unlocking opportunity. But without an ambitious plan on housing, it all sounds empty to me. How can we possibly expect the next generation to fulfil their potential when these are the conditions in which so many spend their earliest years?
Katharine Swindells is the deputy features editor at Inside Housing
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