Barnet Council faces a potential £31 million budget shortfall by 2030 if action isn't taken to reduce the reliance on temporary housing. Key barriers to successfully implementing a plan to address this issue include an insufficient supply of affordable homes, rising demand for homelessness support and escalating dependence on emergency temporary accommodation and its rising cost. The council outlined a strategy to address these challenges in the Temporary Accommodation Reduction Plan 2025 - 2030, which was considered at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 18 November 2025.

The plan focuses on three key areas: managing demand and maximising prevention, increasing the supply of affordable housing, and maximising income and minimising costs. To manage demand, the plan proposes expanding early intervention, service redesign, and digital transformation to prevent homelessness. Successful pilots such as family mediation and occupancy checks have already delivered significant cost avoidance, according to the meeting minutes.

Councillor Ross Houston, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes & Regeneration, highlighted the challenges, including an insufficient supply of affordable homes and rising demand for homelessness support.

Councillor Houston emphasised the importance of providing decent homes for people, calling it a very big social good .

Without intervention, the report warns that annual temporary accommodation costs could rise significantly. The plan proposes actions to manage demand, increase affordable housing supply, and maximise income to offset these costs.

While the plan aims to reduce a forecast delivery gap of 1,200 households by 2030, the exact target for increasing the supply of affordable housing is not explicitly stated in the document.

The council will measure the success of the Temporary Accommodation Reduction Plan by tracking metrics such as:

  • Number of social housing lettings
  • Number of Council homes delivered (with resolution to grant planning)
  • Number of families in temporary accommodation
  • % repeat homelessness applications
  • % rough sleepers returning to the streets
  • Number of homelessness preventions
  • Number of families in emergency TA

Councillor Houston also noted that the plan will be a live document, kept under review and updated as needed. The plan received broad support from the scrutiny committee, with members recognising the need for a long-term approach to address the issue.

The cabinet approved the Temporary Accommodation Reduction Plan 2025 to 2030.