Hammersmith and Fulham Council is grappling with a significant overspend of £6.4 million on temporary accommodation, despite efforts to mitigate the rising costs of homelessness in the borough.

The Housing and Homelessness Policy and Accountability Committee met on 24 July 2025 to discuss the issue. A report presented to the committee revealed that during 2024/25, 3,000 households approached the council seeking assistance due to homelessness. The primary causes cited were eviction from family or friends' homes, loss of private rented accommodation, and domestic abuse. Of these, 547 households were placed into temporary accommodation (TA) during the year, bringing the total to 1,511 households in TA as of 31 March 2025, a 4% increase from the previous year.

The report highlighted the substantial pressure on the temporary accommodation budget, initially forecasting a £7.7 million overspend. Measures were implemented to reduce this, but the year still ended with a £6.4 million deficit. The council is actively pursuing an action plan with three main objectives:

  • Reduce the inflow into TA by preventing homelessness at the initial point of contact.
  • Move households from the most expensive TA to more affordable options and secure additional lower-cost TA.
  • Increase the outflow from TA by rehousing more households into settled accommodation.

To address the inflow, the Homelessness Service is introducing a triage appointment service for new approaches. Offers of private rented accommodation will also be introduced from July, with a target to rehouse 120 applicants from TA into private rented tenancies by 31 March 2026.

The council acknowledges the challenges posed by the high volume of homelessness approaches and the escalating costs of temporary accommodation, mirroring the situation in many other London boroughs. However, they assert that through improvements at the initial point of contact and proactive management of temporary accommodation budgets, they are addressing the issue effectively. The Homelessness Update July 2025 report provides further details on these measures.