Homeless families having extended stays in B&Bs and hotels are leaving BCP Council at risk of legal action.

The local authority regularly places families in such properties as a temporary measure.

Statutory homelessness provisions provide that homeless families should not be placed in B&Bs or hotels for more than six weeks.

A report to BCP Council’s place overview and scrutiny committee said the average stay for families in each of the past four quarters dating back to July 2022 was above this threshold.

This is leaving the council at risk of a judicial review, the paper by director of housing and communities Kelly Ansell and head of strategic housing and partnerships Ben Tomlin said.

January to March of this year saw an average stay of 66.7 days with dozens of new family placements each month.

The overview and scrutiny committee report said: “In comparison to other councils, BCP has an average number of households in temporary accommodation (TA), however a disproportionately high number in B&B/hotels.

“In the past year, overall homelessness enquiry demand has increased by 19 per cent and overall TA use has increased by 23 per cent (587 households).

"Despite the challenges, households where interventions have prevented homelessness has increased by five per cent.”

As reported, the BCP Council area has been selected to take part in ‘Homewards’ – a five-year programme backed by Prince William and The Royal Foundation.

The report said this will give the local authority and BCP Homelessness Partnership new space, tools and relationships to show what can be achieved by working together and focusing on preventing family homelessness.

A surge in families being housed in temporary accommodation had been driven by private rented sector evictions and increasingly limited access to the affordable private rented sector. The second biggest cause was family and friend breakdowns.

In the last financial year, the gross cost of homeless B&B provision to the council was £4m. Around a quarter of this was recoverable from housing benefits and universal credit.

A ringfenced £4m homelessness grant is received each year, with the majority of this covering the cost of temporary accommodation.

Members of the overview and scrutiny committee requested the report, and they will discuss it at a meeting on July 19.

A verbal update is expected on the Homelessness Partnership’s work on creating a targeted action plan.

The paper details the approach currently being taken to respond to demand and what pressures are likely to be going forward.