Government pledges to end children living in B&Bs

The government has committed to stopping children growing up in B&Bs and making childcare more accessible to families on Universal Credit as part of its child poverty strategy.

It hopes to lift some 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030, “the biggest reduction in a single Parliament on record”, with measures including removing the two-child benefit limit.

Homelessness Minister Alison McGovern said the effect of temporary accommodation was one reason attributed to the deaths of children and babies, and that if newborns were still living in B&Bs when “my job was done, I would consider myself a failure”.

Homeless charities welcomed the plans but called for greater changes to lift people out of poverty.

In England alone, more than 172,000 children live in temporary accommodation.

To solve this problem, the government plans to end the “illegal accommodation” of families in B&Bs beyond six weeks.

Currently, councils are only intended to accommodate families with children in B&Bs as a last resort and for a maximum of six weeks, according to the law.

But figures from April to June 2025 show that more than 2,000 children had been living in B&Bs for longer.

Child poverty levels are currently at an “all-time high”, the government says, with 4.5 million children – around a third – living in relative poverty after housing costs. Three quarters of them come from working families.

McGovern said the strategy is to put “a proper roof over our children’s heads.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said he was “really surprised” that in the five years to 2024, 74 children, including 58 babies, died and “one of the causes attributed to their deaths was the effect of temporary accommodation.”

He added that the government wants to ensure that no newborn is discharged from hospital and moved to B&B accommodation, something he “regrets to say happens occasionally”.

“If that continues to happen when I finish my job, I will consider myself a failure,” he said.

The government’s child poverty strategy comes after it announced it would remove the two-child benefit limit in April, extend free school meals to all children in families receiving Universal Credit and introduce free breakfast clubs.

“Too many families are struggling without the basics – a safe home, hot meals and the support they need to make ends meet,” said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said there was “considerable uncertainty about how large a measure of poverty reduction these policies will ultimately achieve, in part because of genuine economic uncertainty”.

Ending the two-child benefit cap, he said 450,000 of the children were expected to be lifted out of poverty by the end of Parliament, with the rest attributable to the extension of free school meals.

Other advertisements, including about temporary accommodation, were aimed at “much smaller groups of people”, the IFS said.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: “You don’t lift children out of poverty by impoverishing the whole country.”

He said work was “the best way out of poverty” and added: “Only the Conservatives have a credible plan to grow the economy, help parents get back to work and tackle child poverty.”

The government says the “devastating impact” on children living in temporary accommodation includes damage to physical and mental health, missing school and family disruption.

James Cassidy, headteacher at Eton Park Junior Academy in Burton-upon-Trent, told the BBC that he is seeing more and more pupils arriving at school tired, anxious and stressed, which has a knock-on effect on their concentration and friendships.

He said the “vast majority” of students’ families were struggling with the cost of living and maintaining long-term employment.

The government’s housing measures are “very welcome,” Cassidy said, adding that in her experience, families often try to manage on their own when placed in temporary accommodation.

Under the government’s plans, councils will also have a new legal obligation to notify schools, health visitors and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation to provide a “more integrated” approach to supporting them.

The government confirmed it will continue with an £8 million pilot program to reduce reliance on B&Bs for emergency accommodation in the 20 highest-used local authorities over the next three years.

It also plans to build 5,000 homes that can be used as more suitable temporary accommodation by 2030 as part of its next homelessness strategy.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says it is a welcome approach to improving the quality of temporary accommodation, where many children live in “shocking Dickensian conditions”.

Homelessness charity Shelter agreed with the government that “no child should grow up in a B&B or a moldy bedroom”.

But he called on ministers to “get children out of temporary accommodation and into permanent homes” by unfreezing housing benefits and building a new generation of social rented housing.

The Health Foundation said the strategy marks progress but “must go further” to offer a “preventive approach that addresses the deep structural causes of poverty.”

Meanwhile, Big Issue magazine founder Lord John Bird said the government’s strategy lacks “ambitious targets”.

“In this challenging economic climate, there is every reason to worry that warm words will not translate into tangible progress,” he said.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the plans will make a “real difference” but called for “something more than these isolated policies”.

“A whole-of-Whitehall response is required, backed by widespread investment,” he said.

The strategy also includes more affordable childcare services, the government says, as childcare costs are one of the biggest barriers to returning to work, with many struggling to cover start-up fees before receiving their first paycheck.

He has promised a rule change from next year to extend eligibility for initial childcare costs to people returning from parental leave, which he said will make it easier for new parents receiving Universal Credit to return to work.

Other measures include helping parents save money on baby formula.

Additional reporting by Vanessa Clarke