“It’s heartbreaking that one in three primary school classrooms include a child who will spend this Christmas homeless,” said Neate.
“Families across the country tell us the housing emergency is damaging their children’s education. Thousands are growing up without the space or basic facilities to sleep, play or do their homework. They travel for hours only to arrive at school exhausted, where they struggle to concentrate and fall behind in their work.
“To give children a chance to succeed, the government must end the nightmare of child homelessness by building a new generation of decent social rent homes. Until then, Shelter needs the public’s support more than ever to continue doing all we can to fight for families on the frontline of the housing emergency.”
The number of children growing up in temporary accommodation has soared to record highs in England in 2024.
A combination of skyrocketing rents, local housing allowance rates that are falling to keep up and a shortage of social rent homes has driven record numbers of families into temporary accommodation.
That has pushed council finances to the limit as well as leading to families being housed in temporary accommodation for long periods and often miles away from friends, family and children’s schools.
Shelter found more than half of parents (52%) say their children have missed days of school as a result of living in temporary accommodation.
Fauzia, 44, her husband and her three children were made homeless by a no-fault eviction seven years ago.
The family were initially placed in a hotel in Enfield before being moved into temporary accommodation in Ealing. That move proved to be hugely disruptive for the family with Fauzia’s children now facing long journeys every day to get to school in Waltham Cross on the other side of London.
Fauzia said: “There are so many problems – the house is freezing cold and poor plumbing leads the toilet to flood every day. It took weeks for the agency to fix it, only for it to break down again. I tried to contact the council, but they ignored me – I just don’t know what to do.
“The journey to get my children to school is killing me. My back hurts and we’re constantly late because our accommodation is so far away. It ends up being such a long day for them; they fall asleep in the car because they’re so exhausted. When we finally get home, there’s barely enough time for them to eat dinner and have a bath. My children are missing out on their childhoods.
“We have been moving since our children were very young. We have been in temporary accommodation for seven years now and every day we pack our things in case we’re told to move again at short notice. It has taken an enormous toll.”
Shelter’s research comes a day after the government announced it would be spending £1bn on tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in 2025-26.
Housing secretary Angela Rayner notably said the funding would include the largest-ever investment in preventing homelessness.
“Too many people have been failed by the system time and again. 160,000 children face spending this Christmas without a stable place to call home. I am determined to break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good,” said Rayner.
“This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It’s time to turn the tide.”
Shelter’s frontline services is asking the public to donate to its urgent appeal to help it be there for the thousands of people experiencing homelessness this winter. Donate now at shelter.org.uk/winterappeal.
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