Meet the homeless people living in hotel rooms miles from their home towns: 'It took its toll'

Thousands of households are caught up in the temporary accommodation crisis, many in unsuitable, cramped, makeshift properties living out of suitcases or boxes and dreaming of a stable place to live.

But for more than 40,000 households in England, there is the added problem of being placed in temporary accommodation out of area, far from where they used to live.

As councils scramble to find places to live for the thousands of households that approach them for help with homelessness, that often means placing them in a different borough.

Miracle spent two years living in a hotel in Brentford. The 39-year-old isn’t from Brentford. Westminster City Council moved him to the hotel as temporary accommodation after he was evicted from his privately rented bedsit and he needed somewhere to live. For Miracle that means moving nine miles up the road. For others that can mean moving much further: one household Westminster currently supports is placed in the north-west of England, more than 200 miles away.

That results in living far from any existing support networks they have; friends and family, work and school.

“It really took its toll,” said Miracle, who claimed he lost out on a job as a risk assessor when he was placed out of borough. “With regards to health, the GP service that I used, which was all the way down in Stratford, I needed to travel there often for my appointments and sometimes I had to miss appointments because of the long journey. The receptionist at the GP surgery was quite concerned about me.

“Also the experience of being out of borough meant that I was losing touch with the bonds that I’d started to create while in Westminster, whether it was to do with my church or the local associations. All those things were starting to really fade and impacted on my life.”

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How many households are placed out of borough?

As of March this year, official statistics show 43,180 are currently in temporary accommodation outside their local area in England.

While the number of households living in temporary accommodation has increased in recent times, the proportion living out of area in England has remained flat over the last couple of years.

Between 30.6% and 32.1% of households have been placed out of area in every quarter since June 2024. But look beyond the national figure and official statistics show a redistribution rather than rising tide.

London is a net exporter of 4,509 households, while the South East and East of England absorb 3,663 households between them.

Often councils are not even told when another local authority places a homeless household in their area.

Big Issue reporting has covered a row between Eastbourne Borough Council and Brighton and Hove City Council over this issue in the last couple of years. 

Eastbourne councillors warned that the local authority was spending as much as half of its budget on temporary accommodation and blamed its bigger neighbour for placing households in its area.

Westminster is the local authority with the highest rate of out-of-area placements but five other councils in London place a higher proportion of households out of area.

Bromley Council sends 80.9% of its caseload out of area, ahead of Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden and Westminster, which sits seventh on the list at 65.4% – a 62% increase. 

Enfield is the council which has seen the biggest increase in out-of-area placements over the past two years – up 87% from 461 to 860.

But the issue is not limited to London. Salford, Chelmsford in Essex and Brighton and Hove have also seen increases of 71%, 68% and 49% respectively over the same period.

Read more:

• Cost of housing homeless people in temporary accommodation soars to £2.8bn
• Government told to fix broken temporary accommodation system as homelessness crisis set to worsen
• ‘It’s deeply upsetting’: 80 homeless children have died in temporary accommodation in just one year

The situation in Westminster

Sitting right on Downing Street’s doorstep, Westminster is the epicentre of England’s homelessness crisis and the council that places the most households outside its local area. Westminster City Council accounts for 7% of cases nationally with 3,065 households out of borough.

As well as the one household in the North West, 70 are living in the East of England, six in the South West while 3,203 are living elsewhere in London.

One in every 30 Westminster households now live in temporary accommodation outside the borough.

Around two-thirds of the borough’s households in temporary accommodation are placed out of borough. The extent of the crisis drove charity Z2K to publish a briefing on Westminster’s reliance on out-of-borough temporary accommodation, Far from home: Lessons from Westminster’s out-of-area temporary accommodation crisis.

The recent briefing tells the stories of current and former residents from Westminster temporary accommodation.

Z2K put the briefing together to tell the story of the human cost of out-of-borough placements.

Janet – not her real name – approached Westminster City Council for support three years ago after a relationship breakdown left her homeless.

She ended up spending 10 months in a hotel outside London. That came at a time when she was suffering from endometriosis.

“It was not just my familiarity with the area, but my health needs,” said Janet.

“It does not help when you’re having to figure out a new area, having to figure out this whole process and being placed somewhere you don’t really know, while also trying to navigate other systems that are joined into that. It’s really hard.

“You get to realise how much of the NHS, although it’s national, is kind of tied to where you live.”

Sheila Holder, a senior housing caseworker at Z2K, told Big Issue of another case she had recently managed. Holder supported the woman, a survivor of torture with complex mental health needs, as she was given temporary accommodation in Uxbridge – around 18 miles from Westminster.

But the move meant that her support with Westminster City Council’s community mental health team came to an end and she has been on the waiting list for support for more than a year.

“She’s had several mental health crises where she’s had to call 999 because she’s declined so much with her mental health,” Holder told Big Issue. “The reality is she’s trying to manage it herself.”

The new Conservative administration regained control of Westminster City Council in May’s local elections. Councillors have pledged to improve standards in temporary accommodation.

A Westminster City Council spokesperson told Big Issue: “This is a national challenge, but its impact is particularly severe in areas like Westminster where there is so much demand for homes. We have 4,500 households in temporary accommodation and the reality of the housing crisis in Central London means we will need to continue providing housing for those in need. 

“The rising cost of housing in Central London remains a significant challenge, often requiring us to look beyond the borough to find available, suitable and affordable homes for the people we support. We have a limited number of larger family homes in our stock. 

“When a family needs a larger wheelchair-accessible home, an-out-of borough property may be the only available option. 

“We also have to consider each household’s circumstances, including local connection, medical needs and family needs, and prioritise the limited homes available in or near Westminster accordingly.”

Z2K has called for the local authority to explore targeted cash grants to support households and urged councillors to work with the NHS to ensure residents can access services.

The charity also asked for residents to be offered free, local and secure storage and a commitment from the council to minimise out-of-area placements and keep households as close to Westminster as possible.

Samuel Thomas, senior policy adviser at Z2K, said: “Westminster is placing more homeless families far from home than any other council in England, and our research shows the human cost. 

“With the council facing deep funding cuts, there is a real risk that out-of-borough placements become a long-term strategy rather than an emergency measure. 

“Westminster must act now to minimise these placements and ensure that where they cannot be avoided, residents are given the financial and practical support they need to stay connected to work, school and services.”

A home is more than just four walls and a roof above heads. We define our homes by their communities, their access to services and amenities, their sense of comfort, stability and security.

Homelessness rips away our sense of home, particularly for thousands of households placed in an area they have no connection to.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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