17 Aug 2026
Record numbers of households and children are living in temporary accommodation across England, but the published figures may not reveal the full extent or impact of homelessness in rural communities.
The latest government figures show that 135,580 households were living in temporary accommodation at the end of March 2026, including 177,530 children.
Responding to the figures, Shelter highlighted that both totals have reached record levels. It also reported that almost one in three households in temporary accommodation were placed outside their home local-authority area.
However, this measure only tells us whether a household crossed a council boundary, not how far people were moved from their homes, schools, employment or support networks.
This is particularly relevant in rural England, where local-authority areas can cover considerable distances. A family could be placed many miles from its community but remain within the same council boundary and therefore not be recorded as an out-of-area placement.
There is also the wider issue of hidden homelessness. The Office for National Statistics recognises that people who are sofa surfing or living in other insecure circumstances may not appear in statutory homelessness figures at all.
Kerry Booth, Chief Executive of the Rural Services Network
These figures are deeply concerning, but they don’t tell us the full story in rural areas. Rural housing need and deprivation can be difficult to identify when statistics are collected across large geographical areas, while people experiencing hidden homelessness may not appear in the official figures at all.
The measure showing whether a household has been placed outside its local-authority area is useful, but it does not tell us how far families have been moved from their homes, schools, employment and support networks. In a large rural authority, a family could remain within the council boundary while being placed many miles from their community, local services and support networks.
We need more detailed information, collected at the right geographical level, to understand the true scale and impact of homelessness in rural communities. Without that evidence, there is a real risk that rural circumstances will continue to be overlooked when national homelessness policy and support are developed.
