Wandsworth Borough Council is grappling with a projected £700 million funding shortfall for temporary housing in the 2025-26 financial year, according to a report presented at the Housing Committee meeting on 27 November 2025.
The report, titled Temporary Accommodation Demographics, highlights the escalating costs associated with providing temporary accommodation (TA) to homeless households, a legal obligation for councils. The homelessness crisis has worsened dramatically over the last decade, leading to an all-time high in the use of temporary accommodation nationally, across London, and in Wandsworth. The report was discussed at the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, where councillors and officers reviewed the current state of temporary housing in the borough.
The report states that London boroughs collectively face a funding gap of at least £700 million in the financial year 2025-26 and that London's worsening homelessness emergency represents the single biggest risk
to boroughs' finances. The specific factors contributing to this shortfall are not detailed in the report, but the rising demand for temporary accommodation is a key factor.
Statistics from June 2025 show a total of 132,410 households in England are in temporary accommodation provided by local authorities, with 74,720 of those households located in London.
The council utilises several types of temporary accommodation, funded from different sources:
- Nightly Paid/licensed (General Fund)
- Private leasing scheme (General Fund)
- Council owned (all types including hostels) (Housing Revenue Account)
- Other including no cost (General Fund)
Wandsworth's net overspend on homelessness accommodation is projected to be £5.2m in 2025/26, even after government grant support.
A borough comparison table in the report pack shows the number of households in temporary accommodation and the types of accommodation used by various London boroughs. Wandsworth has 3,614 households in temporary accommodation, compared to Newham with 6,980.
The average time spent in temporary accommodation for those rehoused in 2024/25 was 43 months, while the average across current occupants of temporary accommodation is 27 months.
Demographic data indicates that, of the households in temporary accommodation in Wandsworth:
- 2,755 are female-headed households
- 1,837 are male-headed households
- 492 are aged 18-24
- 1,349 are aged 25-34
- 2,229 are aged 35-54
- 521 are aged 55 and over
The Temporary Accommodation Demographics report also included a slide deck with further information. For example, one slide showed the location of temporary accommodation:
