 Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) show that there were 151,630 homeless children living in temporary accommodation in the first three months of 2024; this is 15% higher than for the same period in 2023 and the highest figure since records began in 1998 (MHCLG, 2024). Temporary housing was described as often inadequate, in houses of multiple occupation (HMO), of poor standard and located in areas of high deprivation and crime. Local authority spending on temporary accommodation for homeless families has risen from £315m in 2015–16 (18% of housing budgets at the time) to at least £1.048 billion (60% of housing budgets) in 2023–24 (LGA, 2024). Housing and homelessness pressures in the capital are particularly acute; in March 2024, there were 17.8 households per 1,000 households living in temporary accommodation in London, compared with 2.5 households per 1,000 in the rest of England (MHCLG, 2024). 2.3 Out of area housing arrangements Homelessness legislation requires local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to prevent or relieve homelessness for households that meet certain criteria which include those with one or more children. The duties of children’s services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 may also include the provision of accommodation. 15 Families may be housed in another local authority area on either a short- or long-term basis. While this is in some instances a response to safeguarding or welfare issues, the driver is more often the lack of affordable housing options in a local authority district. Government data record that nearly a third of all homeless households were accommodated out of their own local area, leading to families being moved away from formal and informal support networks and local connections to parts of the 