Government pledges to end children living in B&Bs

The government has promised to stop children growing up in hostels and make childcare more accessible for families on Universal Credit as part of its child poverty strategy.

Around 550,000 children are expected to be lifted out of poverty by 2030 through measures including the removal of the two-child benefit limit; this is “the largest reduction in a single Parliament since records began”.

Homelessness Minister Alison McGovern said the impact of temporary accommodation was a reason attributed to the death of children and babies, and if newborns were living in hostels by then “I will consider myself a failure when I’m done.”

Homelessness charities welcomed the plans but called for bigger changes to lift people out of poverty.

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

To address this problem, the government plans to end the “illegal placement” of families in hostels for more than six weeks.

The law says councils should currently only house families with children in hostels as a last resort and for a maximum of six weeks.

However Figures for April-June 2025 It shows more than 2,000 children have been living in hostels for longer than that.

The government says child poverty levels are now at “historic highs”, with 4.5 million children – roughly 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.”

He told BBC Breakfast he was “really shocked” that 74 children, including 58 babies, had died in the five years to 2024 and “one of the causes attributed to their deaths was the impact of temporary accommodation”.

He said the government wanted to ensure that no newborn baby was discharged from hospital to a hostel, adding that he was “sorry to say that this does happen from time to time”.

“If this situation still persists when I finish my job, I will consider myself a failure,” he said.

It comes as the government’s child poverty strategy is announced The two-child benefit limit will be removed in Aprilexpanded free school meals All children from families receiving Universal Creditand introduced free breakfast clubs.

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

Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said there was “significant uncertainty about how large a reduction in measured poverty these policies would deliver, partly due to real economic uncertainty.”

He said that with the end of the two-child benefit cap, it was estimated that this benefit would lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of Parliament, with the remainder attributable to the expansion of free school meals.

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

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “You can’t lift children out of poverty by making the whole country poorer.”

He said work was “the best way out of poverty”, adding: “Only the Conservatives have a credible plan to grow the economy, get parents 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 breakdown.

James Cassidy, headteacher at Eton Park Junior Academy in Burton-upon-Trent, told the BBC he was seeing students arriving at school increasingly tired, anxious and stressed, with a knock-on effect on their concentration and friendships.

He said the “vast majority” of students’ families are experiencing difficulties with living expenses and long-term employment.

Mr Cassidy said the government’s measures on housing were “very welcome” and added that in his experience families often struggle to cope on their own when placed in temporary accommodation.

Under the government’s plans, councils will also have a new legal duty to provide a “more joined-up” approach to informing and supporting schools, health visitors and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation.

The government has confirmed it will continue with an £8 million pilot to reduce reliance on hostels as emergency accommodation in 20 local authorities with the highest usage over the next three years.

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

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says this is a welcome focus on 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 hostel or moldy bedroom”.

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

The Health Foundation said the strategy was making progress but “needs to go further” to deliver “a preventive approach that tackles the deep structural causes of poverty”.

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

“In this difficult economic environment, there is every reason to worry that warm words will not translate into concrete progress,” he said.

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

“A Whitehall-wide response is needed, backed by widespread investment,” he said.

The government says more accessible childcare is also included in the strategy; Child care costs are one of the biggest barriers to returning to work, and many people struggle to cover upfront fees before receiving their first pay stub.

He promised a rule change to extend eligibility for upfront childcare costs for people returning from parental leave from next year, saying it would make it easier for new parents on Universal Credit to return to work.

Other measures include: helping parents save money on baby food.

Additional reporting by Vanessa Clarke