Helping households to move out of temporary accommodation and into settled homes

Councils across the UK continue to face severe pressure from the rising cost of temporary accommodation. Last year, London boroughs alone spent a combined £5 million every day on housing homeless households. With government funding frozen for over a decade and rents continuing to rise, the gap between what councils pay and what they can reclaim from central government is widening, putting huge financial pressure on local authorities and the essential services they provide.

Living in temporary accommodation for long periods can affect residents’ health, wellbeing, and family life. By helping residents move into settled homes, we’re giving them the stability they need to thrive and reducing the financial strain on local services.

Despite our strong track record as one of the largest council housebuilders in the country, too many residents find themselves living in temporary accommodation for long periods of time. Since the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act in 2017, the number of households approaching the council for housing advice and assistance has continued to rise, with the number of households living in temporary accommodation increasing by 28% in the past year and 82% over the past two years. That’s why here in Waltham Forest; we’re taking bold steps to tackle this challenge and help households move into settled homes.  

Last October, we launched our Temporary Accommodation to Settled Homes Strategy, which works alongside our Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. Our goal is simple, to “reduce the number of households living in Temporary Accommodation by supporting more residents into healthy, safe, and affordable settled homes.”

So, this means:

• preventing homelessness before it happens through early intervention and tenancy sustainment
• increasing the supply of good-quality homes
• providing practical support so households can move on from temporary accommodation quickly

• Preventing homelessness earlier through our Housing Sustainment Team. We’re investing in early intervention to prevent homelessness before it happens. The team works with families in the private rented sector who are at risk of losing their homes. They help residents to sustain their tenancy by offering budgeting advice and signposting to local support services. The team also helps to resolve benefit issues, liaises with professionals, supports access to education and employment opportunities, and helps households build positive social networks.
   
• Sourcing new homes every month from trusted and reliable landlords. Our Accommodation Procurement team secures over 25 private rented properties each month, most of which are let at Local Housing Allowance levels. These properties provide households with the opportunity to move out of temporary accommodation and into a settled home. This steady supply of good-quality private rented sector properties is essential in helping residents move on quickly. By maintaining regular access to affordable rented homes, we can offer faster placements for households in need and strengthen the borough’s ability to provide secure and sustainable housing.  
   
• Working with over 250 landlords and letting agents. We also benefit from a strong and growing network of more than 250 private landlords and letting agents, all of whom play a crucial role in helping us secure affordable homes for households facing homelessness. This partnership approach ensures a reliable supply of well‑managed properties and strengthens our ability to provide sustainable housing options.  
   
• Transforming the move‑on process for households in temporary accommodation with a faster, fairer process. Since April 2025, our Settled Homes Team has supported 251 households to move out of temporary accommodation and into a settled home. We now advertise available private rented sector properties directly to households living in temporary accommodation, invite expressions of interest and assess suitability quickly. This responsive approach enables residents to move into settled, affordable homes quickly and is reducing the borough’s reliance on temporary accommodation as well as improving long‑term outcomes for households.  
   
• Shaping our services based on residents' feedback. At our Housing Options Open Day in April 2025, residents told us they want greater access to a settled home with many now considering moving out of London to find a home that’s right for their household.  

The council is not the only organisation responsible for addressing the housing crisis in the borough. We’re working closely with a range of partners to increase our housing supply. Through our Housing Compact, we work closely with over 30 Registered Providers (housing associations), who together provide over 17,500 homes for Waltham Forest residents, with a significant proportion of these homes being affordable. This partnership gives Waltham Forest households more options to move into a safe, settled home.

We’re also enhancing the service by partnering with Beam, a social enterprise that helps households living in temporary accommodation to find employment and a settled home. Together, we will support an additional 40 households into private rented housing in 2026. Households that meet the eligibility criteria will receive:

• help finding a home and managing bills
• financial assistance for moving costs
• employment support and money management advice
• 12 months of wraparound support to help them settle in and stay in their new home

Since launching in 2017, Beam has supported thousands of homeless residents into stable jobs and housing, securing 2,000 tenancies nationwide and working across 20 London boroughs.  

Councillor Ahsan Khan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration, said: 

Everyone deserves a safe, warm and secure home – it’s the foundation for good health, wellbeing and a better future. Like councils across the country, we’re facing unprecedented pressure from rising costs of temporary accommodation. That’s why we’re acting decisively, stopping the most expensive forms of temporary accommodation, increasing the supply of good-quality homes, and providing practical support so households can move on faster. 

Our Temporary Accommodation to Settled Homes Strategy is clear, we are prioritising prevention over crisis. By working with partners like Beam and our own Procurement team sourcing dozens of new properties every month, we’re helping more households find stability and the chance to move out of temporary accommodation and into safe, settled homes. 

Rhys Hayter, partnerships lead at Beam, said: 

We’re delighted to partner with a forward-thinking council like Waltham Forest on innovative approaches to tackling the temporary accommodation crisis. The programme will provide more residents with the support they need to make the private rented sector a more viable and sustainable route out of homelessness, while simultaneously helping reduce the pressures of costly temporary accommodation on the council. Ultimately, this means helping people in Waltham Forest who need it most to build happier, more independent lives.