Number of families living in B&Bs on the rise

Latest government figures show there were 2,090 homeless families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation at the end of June, an increase of eight per cent on the same period the previous year.

Homelessness charity Shelter says major factors in the rise are restrictions on the level of housing benefit families can claim and a lack of support for homeowners facing repossession.

A survey of 4,000 people carried out by the charity in March found that six out of 10 working families with a mortgage or in rented accommodation were struggling to keep up with their monthly payments.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “These figures are a wake-up call. Ordinary families are falling through the net and risk losing everything. We’re worried about the thousands more just behind them who are living on a knife-edge, where all it takes is a sudden job loss or illness to tip a family into a downward spiral that can put their home at risk.”