When Temporary Becomes Childhood: We Are Failing a Generation of Children

I am angry.

Not angry at housing officers working every day under impossible pressure. Not angry at councils trying to balance shrinking budgets against growing need.

I am angry that, as a country, we have allowed temporary accommodation to become normal for far too many children.

What does it say about us if an entire generation grows up not knowing what a stable home feels like?

Children spending months and sometimes years in temporary accommodation. Families living in a single room in a B&B. No kitchen. No space to do homework. No garden. No privacy. No certainty about tomorrow.

One room equals no hope.

And we should be honest about the consequences. Research shows that 76% of teachers report homelessness and housing instability directly contribute to poor academic performance. Teachers see the impact every day: disrupted learning, exhaustion, poor mental health, missed school days and children struggling simply because they don't have a stable place to call home.

For me, one day in unsuitable temporary accommodation – and by that I mean a B&B – is too long.

The legal limit may be six weeks, but we should not be measuring success by how long children can endure unsuitable accommodation. Housing officers across the country share that view, but they are constrained by finances, housing supply and a system that has failed to keep pace with demand.

My fear is that we are creating a hidden generation of children failed by the state.

A generation whose childhood memories are not of bedrooms, gardens and family meals, but of shared rooms, temporary addresses and uncertainty.

This is not a council problem alone. Governments of every colour have failed to get ahead of this crisis. Time and time again, the investment, housing supply and long-term planning needed simply have not materialised.

At Wychavon, we have more families in temporary accommodation than any of us would like. But there is a plan, there is determination, and there is a commitment to reduce those numbers. Local government is doing what it can.

But councils cannot solve a national housing crisis on their own.

Government must invest.

Councils must be empowered to develop flexible, nimble solutions.

Schools need stronger partnerships and more wraparound support for children living in temporary accommodation.

Prevention services need funding so intervention happens before a family loses their home.

And residents need to understand why sustainable housing growth matters. Every new affordable home built is potentially a family kept out of temporary accommodation.

Because prevention is the answer.

Step in early. Stop families reaching crisis. Keep children in stable homes. Break the cycle before it starts.

We cannot keep accepting this.

We cannot keep normalising children growing up in B&Bs.

We cannot keep talking about housing as if it is only about bricks and mortar.

This is about childhood.

This is about opportunity.

This is about whether we are prepared to put children first.

The true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. Right now, too many children are paying the price for decades of failure.

We all need to step up.

Government must invest.

Communities must support sustainable housing growth.

Councils must continue innovating and delivering.

Because every child deserves more than a temporary roof over their head.

They deserve a home.