Temporary Accommodation Network – Case studies

Switch Housing provide comprehensive property management and accommodation solutions across the public and private sector. Their work is focused on sourcing safe, secure and stable residential accommodation for vulnerable families, while increasing cost efficiencies for local councils.

In August 2024, Switch were introduced to a London borough, which had issues with its TA provision. 250 families had been allocated rooms in budget hotels across the borough, but fluctuating nightly rates provided little cost certainty. Due to the nature of the hotels, guests had limited facilities and families were moved to a different location every four weeks, with the local authority employing a team to manage the changeovers. 

Additionally, there were no reports or records of residents from the hotels. This meant it was difficult for the authority to manage or track costs, or understand which families were staying in assigned accommodation. In reviewing the monthly spend in the period between January to August, Switch found that the room rate was 25% higher than the expected rate, resulting in a budget overspend of £1million. 

Switch agreed a 12-month contract with the local authority to source and manage a longer-term accommodation solution, which would include basic facilities like a shared kitchen, on fixed payment terms. This not only offered greater budget stability but would provide an improved quality of living for residents. 

The programme was agreed at the beginning of September 2024, and within the month, all families had been relocated into three new hotels, utilising Switch’s central booking system. These had a fixed rate per room and featured additional services, including weekly cleaning, a fridge, and access to laundry facilities. The hotels were required to comply with enhanced Health & Safety standards and agreed to complete a weekly inspection of all rooms and remedy any reported issues. Switch also secured fixed payment dates for each hotel, in a move away from previous credit card pre-payments. 

This contract enabled Switch to increase efficiencies for the council by providing a central booking platform and direct booking line. Regardless of the hotel size or location, Swich guaranteed a fixed rate for the local authority, who now benefit from a single payment system. The cost certainty has reduced the annual Subsidy Loss per family by £10,000. Spreading the saving across 250 families, the saving is predicted to be around £2.5 million with enhanced standards and control. As part of the programme, Switch provide the local authority with a weekly update on all guests, in addition to quarterly health & safety inspections and resident feedback reports. 

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Wates are a leading family-owned development, building, and maintenance company. In response to the TA crisis, Wates have been exploring how modular homes could provide a more versatile and cost-effective solution, enabling the delivery of high-quality, safe and energy efficient homes for homeless households who are awaiting a move into a more permanent home.

An example of this is Crofts Street, a disused site in Cardiff, where Wates partnered with the local council to deliver nine two-bed temporary homes. These were built offsite using modern methods of construction and lowered onto position in just five weeks. They were designed to the same terraced style as local homes, with all the groundworks and landscaping completed in advance, minimising disruption to local neighbours.

The method of construction not only enabled the homes to be built and installed in record time but also used the latest technology and materials to create net-zero carbon buildings that meet Energy Performance Certificate A and are 90% more energy efficient than standard homes built to current regulations. The homes are well insulated, and so residents see huge savings on their bills.

Building on this successful scheme in Cardiff, Wates are currently working to roll-out a similar scheme in Romford, London Borough of Havering, where a planning application was recently submitted as part of a 12-year Joint Venture with the local council to regenerate estates and build new homes.

To further support this initiative, Wates recently developed a Modular Playbook, offering a detailed insight into how modular housing can be effectively implemented to address housing challenges. The playbook explores key benefits, design principles, and case studies showcasing the impact of modular solutions.

The potential benefits of modular solutions are huge, especially compared to hotels and hostels. Wates estimate that providing such housing generates an annual saving of £44,000 per adult compared to private rented accommodation (rising to £63,500 for those in hotel or B&Bs). Modular solutions also add social and community value, enabling local solutions, which enable people to remain in their communities.

Modular housing can be placed on almost any site, but they are particularly suitable for meanwhile use on brownfield or large phased development sites with good access to infrastructure and amenities, especially those already allocated within local plans. 

The product can be relocated for use on other sites as needed and is best delivered through a lease/leaseback model via the local authority to provide greater certainty. Modular could have an even greater potential impact if supported by planning reforms to create a new use class for modular housing and more access to grant funding through programmes, including underused funds and flexibility to follow the site.

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Riverside are a large registered provider of social housing originally founded in Liverpool with a significant presence on Merseyside, including around 1,700 homes in Sefton. In 2019 Riverside launched a new scheme with Sefton Borough Council to support families living in temporary accommodation (TA) to move into more settled homes.

Informed by learning from Housing First, the scheme seeks to offer two- or three-bed furnished family homes to households in TA with a history of failed tenancies, as well as strengths-based person-centred support to end the cycle of homelessness empowering them to independence. 

Families with children of all ages living in the properties receive support at least weekly from Riverside’s Specialist Support Worker to help them sustain their tenancy and support with other needs they may have, for example with benefits, debt, rent arrears, health, domestic abuse, hate crime, anti-social behaviour and getting back into work or education and training.

Crucially, a housing-led approach means that the home someone is given is not conditional on the way in which they engage in support. It is a secure and stable base where support workers help a formerly homeless person, and their family rebuild their lives. Initially offered a supported protected licence, families eventually transition to a regular social housing tenancy with Riverside after 12 months, in the same property. This helps people to break the cycle of constantly moving home and provides motivation to build long-term relationships rather than living with the worry that they will be moved elsewhere. 

The scheme’s coordinated approach has meant more efficient use of the Council and its partners’ services. By bringing housing and homelessness together it has been calculated that the pilot generated a saving of £24,394 per family per annum – £3.36 of benefit for every £1 spent. The service was recommissioned in 2024, delivering nine homes per year, for the next 5 years.

More information about the Sefton Families service, including testimonials from one of its residents, the council leader, and those working on the scheme, is available through this short video below.

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Habitat for Humanity (HFH) is a charity which seeks to fight global poverty and homelessness. HFH recently worked with the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (LBBD) to transform underused a council-owned commercial property into welcoming shared accommodation for young people leaving local authority care.

HFH worked with LBBD’s empty property team to identify Council-owned sites, one of which was 4-5 Royal Parade in Dagenham. This property was part of a local shopping centre in need of regeneration. The ground floor shop unit and the upper floors had been unoccupied for over 10 years and were derelict before HFH took on the refurbishment work. This involved refurbishing the ground floor as 2 shop units for letting by LBBD and converting the upper floor into a shared residential flat. Works were completed in March 2024, and it now houses 4 young care leavers, plus commercial tenants. 

The shared home is managed by LBBD Children’s Services team, who provide transitional support to the young people as they seek to move on with their lives. The flat is 140m2 in size, with new access from ground level and four ensuite bedrooms, a shared kitchen/lounge and an external garden area with terrace. The flat was furnished with upcycled furniture produced by volunteers in HFH’s Upcycling Workshop. 

HFH provided the development expertise from inception to completion to unlock these deteriorating assets, taking on multiple roles which demonstrates a diverse and flexible approach to supporting councils:

• Project Manager throughout, overseeing the feasibility, planning, detailed design, and construction stages.
• Architectural design and Principal Designer role up to planning, and contractor role in the refurbishment fit-out of the shared accommodation. 
• Management of on-site volunteers who helped with pre-construction works to prepare the site and on-site training for local young people. 

HFH secured grant funding from corporate sponsors, which helped develop the financial model of the project. This was the fourth project delivered successfully and LBBD wish to partner in further renovations of empty property they own, to provide a further 15 bed spaces in 3 properties for young people leaving care. 

The project was built with direct funding by LBBD, and a small grant fund raised by HFH via philanthropic supporters to subsidise the projects, enabling rents to be set affordably, and significant savings to be achieved for LBBD in housing the young care leavers in suitable and much more cost-effective homes. The programme provides the stability that young people need to engage with the support provided for them, and for it to be more effective in the long-term.

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Trust for London is one of London’s largest charitable funders. Their “5 Basics Campaign” seeks to improve life for households in TA by partnering with others to push for improved standards across London and work to improve five basic amenities in TA. The core ask is for councils to stop putting people in TA that is in poor condition, not accessible or safe and located away from community and support networks. 

The 5 Basics are presented as measures that can help improve daily life in accommodation that is otherwise habitable. These are as follows:

1. Cooking facilities in all forms of TA, including a fridge to store food. This is the only solution to people being able to have dignity and be able to make healthy choices about food is to have kitchens. When people have cooking facilities they can cut down on the additional costs of TA and look after themselves and protect their children’s development
2. Information that is clear, consistent and accurate to be provided to people when they move into TA and for them to be kept regularly updated throughout their time in TA about how they will move onto settled accommodation. This should be delivered with regard to digital exclusion, literacy, language and disability needs. When people have better information they can make decisions based on a clearer understanding of the process and be better able to address problems.
3. Wifi access that meets the needs of the whole household. When people have better access to WiFi they can save on the additional costs of internet access in TA, be better able to manage online benefit and housing processes, be in a stronger position to find work and ensure their children’s education and life chances are not damaged.
4. Laundry facilities to be provided in all properties being used for TA, including a washing machine and either a dryer or somewhere to dry laundry that has adequate ventilation. When people have better laundry facilities they can save on the additional costs of TA, better look after themselves and reduce additional laundry burdens associated with young children or medical issues.
5. Storage facilities to be provided for all people going into TA. When people have better storage they can reduce the costs of storage elsewhere, including for lengthy and unspecified times, have access to the personal belongings that others take for granted and are able to keep prams/buggies etc safely and accessibly.

Resources are in development to expand on the requirements including specific policy suggestions, and examples of good practice which councils can learn from. The campaign has grown out of Trust for London’s Better Temporary Accommodation Initiative. For more information about the campaign and the initiative please email info@trustforlongon.org.uk , for the attention of Susie Dye.

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Local Space was founded in 2006 by the London Borough of Newham to acquire and refurbish properties to house people in response to record numbers of homelessness seen locally during the 2000s. Their business model enables local authorities to discharge their homeless duties through the provision of high-quality, affordable accommodation within Local Housing Allowance rates. The need for this has continued to increase due to the parlous state of local government finance and ongoing constraints on the availability of affordable housing. 

Since 2006, Local Space has grown to become a registered provider with over 3,000 properties across 19 local authority areas in East London and Essex. Central to its offer is the ability to use its expanding portfolio to provide reliable, long-term, and high-quality accommodation to rival more costly and inappropriate alternatives, saving local authorities money and providing a decent home for individuals and families.

Local Space recently signed new lease deals with its longest-standing partner, the London Borough of Newham, to take direct control of over nearly 250 homes on three new developments in the borough, each of which were originally designated for market sale. Each opportunity involves Local Space leasing the properties and, in some instances, the whole development from Newham and offering a tenancy, managing homes and estate services and providing services to customers. This is a strong example of a council and Local Space working together to maximise the opportunities from the conversion of new market sale housing into settled rented accommodation to add to the resilience of the supply pipeline.

One of the most prominent of these development schemes is New Market Place, East Ham, which is a development of a former indoor market space in East Ham. Newham acquired 43 homes on the development in Cornwell House initially designed for open market sale, which are now to be used for affordable housing upon being leased to Local Space. Local Space charges intermediate rents at Local Housing Allowance rates and lets the properties to nominees from the council’s housing register. The development includes a communal courtyard garden with play area and a roof terrace. 

The Local Space offer is much more than simply providing accommodation. It is based upon a strong understanding from a housing management perspective of the needs of individual residents and families, and they aim to help them maintain their tenancies with us. Local Space is a prime example of how settled accommodation can alleviate pressures on local government, national services and budgets and help people experiencing homelessness gain access to a warm, safe and decent home.

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Madison Brook (MB) is a multi-disciplined property company based in London who work in partnership with local councils to provide alternative solutions to TA. They were initially approached by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea to help boost the supply of settled housing for residents at risk of homelessness, forming a partnership with a social impact equity backed private landlord to supply homes at affordable rents on medium to long-term leases through a simple nomination agreement. 

This model delivers stable housing modelled at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rent levels – representing a significant cost reduction against more expensive alternatives including hotel and B&Bs. The key benefits of this are:

• Speed – the nominations agreement was created in collaboration with Council partners, allowing for a quick and compliant supply of homes.
• Quality – all homes are refurbished to PRS standard ensuring a uniformity across the portfolio which in turn drives high resident satisfaction. 
• Cost saving – the Council’s financial commitment is capped at a small supplement required to meet investment viability (average £3,000 per property, per annum). This represents a significant cost reduction against alternatives.
• Simplicity – in tracking LHA rent levels, this model removes the complication and risk of long-term index linked agreements.

All homes are acquired and refurbished in-house, with MB retained as managing agent. Rent is paid by the tenant under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy but guaranteed by the council for the term. Homes are family sized (predominantly 3 or 4 bedrooms) and available to homeless applicants on medium term leases. MB leads on all operational activities including lettings, rent collection, property and tenant management to provide expertise and consistency for all parties.

The agreement is funded by a UK based real estate investment fund, with investors seeking environmental and social impact and the resource and commitment to deliver 300+ homes per Council. They currently have an initial seed portfolio of 25 homes let through the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and are in active discussions with a range of other councils across the capital. 

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Project 123 is a joint initiative between the G15 and London Councils that was launched to identify creative solutions to tackle the temporary housing crisis. Project 123 seeks to reduce the financial burden on local authorities, who are collectively spending £120m per month on TA. The initiative is coined Project 123, as 1 in 23 children in London did not have a permanent bed to sleep in at the time the project was launched. This figure has now sadly increased to 1 in 21 children.

At the initial Project 123 summit in August 2023, the G15 group of leading Housing Associations, the Greater London Authority (GLA), London Councils and over 20 London borough representatives explored the opportunities and constraints of potential solutions to alleviate the spend on temporary accommodation. To date the project has proven concept on two of the three identified scenarios that came out of the summit, with another currently progressing. . The three scenarios are: 

• Sale or lease of existing high-cost void properties
• Bulk sale of new build void properties
• Meanwhile temporary housing using modular construction

The modular scenario has had a great deal of input from various local authorities and the GLA in order to facilitate a model that would work for all stakeholders, within the existing Affordable Homes programme 21-26 funding regime. This scenario involves using modular construction methods on infill or vacant development sites for a 5 or 10-year term. 

Project 123’s intentions under each scenario have always been to ensure that deal structures, contracts, and ways of working, are transparent and can act as a ‘blueprint’ for other organisations to pick up and utilise lessons learnt as well as knowledge sharing once proof of concept has been achieved. 

Since the launch, the Project 123 team have engaged with various stakeholders which includes London Boroughs, outer-London local authorities, the GLA, the GMCA, the NHF, Homes England, homelessness charities and organisations, as well as a range of Modular providers, architects, planning consultants and  investors, in order to establish how to come together and help find a solution to this widespread problem across the country.

Progress to date has not been without its challenges. Across the different scenarios Project 123 has faced a number of barriers which limit the ability to alleviate the spend on TA with ease, or in the short term. This has included access to grant funding, planning and regulatory challenges, and inter-departmental cross working between different sectors and organisations. This has evidenced that trying to fit something very new into an existing system, with a lack of creative thinking, to break the mould can be challenging.

Find out more about the Campbell Tickell-Devonshires: Temporary Accommodation Network

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