BRADFORD Council spends tens of thousands of pounds every week on temporary accommodation for homeless families, new figures have revealed.

Housing charity Shelter says that councils are being forced to waste “vast sums” on temporary accommodation, which are often deemed to be unsuitable places to live, because of a lack of investment in social housing.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures show that Bradford Council spent £1.2 million providing accommodation to homeless families for the year 2018-19, which is more than £22,000 per week.

The largest chunk of that figure – a total of £658,000 – was spent on places in homeless hostels, including women’s refuges, while a further £521,000 was spent on places in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Shelter describes bed and breakfasts as “some of the worst places for families with children to live”, due to their small size and lack of appropriate facilities. They often involve entire households living in one small room and are void of cooking facilities.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said the figures were a shocking but “entirely preventable consequence” of the country’s housing emergency.

She said: “If consecutive governments had built the genuinely affordable social homes that are needed, fewer people would be homeless, and we would not be wasting vast sums on unsuitable temporary accommodation.

“What’s even more shameful is that so much of this public money is lining the pockets of unscrupulous private landlords, who can charge desperate councils extortionate rates for grim bed and breakfasts, because there’s nowhere else for families to go.”

Ms Neate expressed her desire for social housing to be a focal point of discussions in the coming weeks, with elections looming.

“This is a crisis that we cannot allow politicians to ignore during this election.

“Social housing must be at the heart of every manifesto, and all parties must commit to at least 90,000 new social homes a year over the next parliament.

“If they don’t, all of us will pay an even higher price.”

A spokesperson from Bradford Council said: “Homelessness has been rising across the UK and is a serious issue facing many local residents.

“We support local people with urgent housing needs with temporary accommodation and this currently costs the Council over £1million per year.

“This adds to very high financial pressures we are already experiencing from other local services.

“Building social housing is no longer the primary responsibility of local authorities.

“However, we work in partnership with Homes England and social landlords, such as Incommunities, to support and encourage more social and affordable housing which relieves pressures on temporary and emergency accommodation.”

For advice on how councils can be asked to review temporary accommodation if a resident feels it is unsuitable, see Shelter.org.uk