The ban, which comes into force from next April, is the result of new legislation under the Housing Act 1996. Last week housing minister Yvette Cooper said it meant the end of long-term use of bed and breakfast accommodation as 'temporary accommodation for homeless families with children or where a member of the household is pregnant'.
She added, 'The Government believes it is simply unacceptable that homeless families with children should spend long periods of time in unsuitable conditions with little room to play, exercise, make friends or do their homework. It puts them at a disadvantage from a young age and is one of the worst manifestations of social exclusion.'
The move was welcomed by the charity Shelter. Its director, Adam Sampson, said, 'This new law will mean an end to the misery endured by homeless families and children forced into bed and breakfast accommodation for months on end. We are delighted the Government has acted to end this terrible practice that has damaged so many people's lives.'
Shelter has long campaigned against this type of accommodation on the grounds that it is 'totally unsuitable for families and especially children, disrupting their lives, damaging their health and ruining their education'.
However, the Local Government Association labelled the move 'perverse'
because it could potentially criminalise a small number of councils, putting them 'in an untenable position which allows for no flexibility for individual cases and for circumstances outside their control.' Ruth Bagnall, chair of the LGA's housing executive, said, 'Councils do not choose to place people in B&B accommodation as a matter of course. In areas of the country where there is limited choice of alternative housing, they are used as a necessity.'
