English councils seek £100m to avert collapse of homelessness services

Cross-party group writes to chancellor saying councils face bankruptcy over temporary housing bills

Council leaders have urged Jeremy Hunt to intervene to prevent the collapse of local homelessness services because of the soaring costs of providing emergency housing for evicted families.

A letter signed by a cross-party group of local authority leaders in England indicates that some town halls in effect face bankruptcy and describes mounting temporary housing bills for homeless households as a “critical risk to the financial sustainability of many local authorities”.