Citizens UK welcomes government funding to prevent homelessness and support families in temporary accommodation this winter
Citizens UK welcomes government funding to prevent homelessness and support families in temporary accommodation this winter
Citizens UK is pleased to welcome a new £84 million cash boost to help prevent homelessness and support families this winter, including a £11 million commitment to help families with children living in temporary accommodation (TA) to access basic facilities.
Citizens UK, alongside other organisations, has been campaigning for the Five Basic standards that we all expect in our day-to-day lives: cooking, laundry, Wi-Fi, storage, and clear information. Yet, families in TA are expected to cope without them, often for years at a time, which harms their well-being. Without these amenities, it’s hard for families in TA to function, stay healthy and connected, and to get their lives back on track.
Our report with Trust For London, ‘A long way home: Improving the experiences of people in temporary accommodation’, written by Jack Shaw in partnership with the APPG on Households in Temporary Accommodation, was released in May 2025 at a Parliamentary roundtable and revealed the dire state of TA in the UK. 130,000 homeless households in England were in TA, a figure that has spiked by more than 15% in the last year alone. This includes 165,510 children. Temporary arrangements have become permanent, with many children spending their entire childhoods in TA.
- Citizens UK leaders at temporary accommodation roundtable in Parliament, May 2025.
The report also reveals the scale to which families in TA are struggling to access basic necessities. In Newham, households could be spending up to £900 a year just to wash and dry their clothes. Some families interviewed discouraged their children from certain forms of play or messy food because they could not afford the cost of washing their clothing.
I lived in temporary accommodation with my son. I kept spending lots of time outside in coffee shops to stay warm and to avoid my son getting dirty playing outside, as we had no laundry available.
Khadija, a mum from South London
Community leaders up and down the country have been campaigning for the Government to take action and introduce the Five Basic Standards. In July 2025, Trust for London also organised a ‘day of action’ with five Citizens UK alliance: Greenwich Citizens, Lambeth Citizens, Lewisham Citizens, and Redbridge Citizens to engage their local authorities on the issue.
The Five Basic Standards include:
- Cooking facilities: a place to prepare a hot meal
- Laundry access: a way to wash clothes that is affordable and easy to access
- Wi-Fi: reliable, free internet connection Wi-Fi.
- Secure storage: somewhere to safely store personal belongings
- Clear information: updates on rights, repairs, and move‑on plans.
Today, the Government has announced £11 million to help families with children living in TA have access to basic facilities like Wi-Fi, laundry, travel passes for school and uniform, and help pay for food and leisure activities.
Matthew Bolton, CEO of Citizens UK, said:
We welcome the Government’s investment to prevent homelessness, including the £11 million commitment to help families with children in temporary accommodation access the essentials they need to live with dignity. These are lifelines that give children a sense of stability and hope in the toughest of circumstances.
Communities across the country have been calling for the five basics every family deserves: somewhere to cook, to wash clothes, to connect online, to store belongings safely, and to be kept informed. We look forward to working with national and local partners to make sure these commitments reach every family, in every community, so that dignity and stability are guaranteed by right, not granted by chance.
Matthew Bolton, CEO Citizens UK
Our report with Trust for London reveals the dire state of temporary accommodation in the UK, and the policy asks we are calling on the Government to take action on.
We should all have a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home. This is crucial to our health and wellbeing, our family and work life, and our dignity.