55 children have died where temporary accommodation could have been a factor (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Being forced to live in temporary accommodation could have contributed to the deaths of 55 children, new research suggests.
The children, mostly aged under one year, died between April 1, 2019 and March 31 of last year in what’s been described as ‘a stark indictment of our housing crisis’.
The figures, from the Households in Temporary Accommodation All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), found 12 of the deaths happened in London while the rest happened elsewhere in England.
The number of deaths has increased from 34 in the same period until the end of March 2022 – but while 21 more deaths have been uncovered, it’s believed they happened across the four-year period rather than between March 2022 and March 2023.
Homelessness and temporary accommodation were recorded by the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) as factors that may have contributed to the child’s vulnerability, ill health or death in each case.
It comes after the latest government figures, published last week, showed there were a total of 142,490 children living in temporary accommodation at the end of September last year – another record high.
Dame Siobhain McDonagh described the current situation as ‘the wild west’ (Picture: PA)
The APPG said lack of access to a cot in temporary accommodation, coupled with overcrowding, exposure to poor conditions such as damp and mould, poverty, uncertainty and repeated change are all considered to be possible causes of the unexpected deaths.
Labour MP Dame Siobhain McDonagh, who chairs the APPG, said she had seen living conditions which are ‘unfit’ for people to be placed in, describing the current situation as ‘the wild west’.
She said: ‘It is shocking that in the fifth largest economy in the world, children are dying because of the accommodation they are being housed in.
‘We cannot accept that. It is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to temporary accommodation. I see it in my advice surgery every week.
‘Councils are under extraordinary pressure. They have an ever-growing list of homeless families waiting for accommodation and an ever-smaller pool of housing to put them in.
‘That means councils are forced to house people in inhumane conditions.
‘Some of the conditions that I see are unfit for anyone to live in, let alone a child. It is the wild west out there.
‘Whatever your political leaning, it is time to say enough is enough. None of this will change until we build enough social housing and regulate temporary accommodation.’
Dr Laura Neilson, chief executive of Shared Health, said, ‘It is unbelievably sad to hear that more families have been devastated through a sudden child death whilst living in temporary accommodation and there are likely more not yet identified in the data set.
‘As clinicians, politicians, local government and citizens, we must act now to prevent any more of these tragedies.’
Simon Gale, chief executive of the Justlife Foundation, which helped set up the APPG, said ‘The loss of 55 lives – equivalent to two classrooms of children – serves as a stark indictment of our housing crisis.
‘Despite the gravity of the situation, we have yet to treat it as the emergency it is. This should serve as a wake-up call and we are urging the government to establish a task force to comprehensively address this systemic failure.’
More Trending
A government spokesperson described the findings as ‘completely shocking’.
They added: ‘Our guidance to councils is clear that all temporary accommodation must be safe and suitable for families with babies and have enough space for a cot.
‘We will continue to work with the APPG and councils on this important issue.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.