Temporary accommodations costing Blackburn with Darwen Council a whopping £400k

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Finding people temporary accommodation has cost Blackburn with Darwen Council thousands of pounds.

Personal Injury Claims UK obtained figures via FOI requests on temporary accommodation and its costs and found that it cost the council nearly £400k in the past year which is a significant increase on the previous year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Temporary accommodation for over 120 people is costing Blackburn with Darwen Council a whopping £400k.Temporary accommodation for over 120 people is costing Blackburn with Darwen Council a whopping £400k.
Temporary accommodation for over 120 people is costing Blackburn with Darwen Council a whopping £400k. | Google

The number of those living in temporary accommodation (TA) in Blackburn and Darwen is on the rise, with over 120 people staying in provisional premises.

The data comes in light of the news that, across the UK, the number of homeless people in local authority-provided TA rose to record levels.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Data obtained shows the spike in those needing temporary accommodation from 2021-2024.Data obtained shows the spike in those needing temporary accommodation from 2021-2024.
Data obtained shows the spike in those needing temporary accommodation from 2021-2024. | Personal Injury Claims UK

In 2023, about 109,000 households in England – including 142,000 children – were in emergency housing between June and September, up 10 per cent on the same period the previous year.

Back in 2021/22, the number of people staying in TA in Blackburn with Darwen stood at 25, which is the lowest total in the past three years.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A year later, this number rose to 72, with a possible cause for this being the ongoing cost-of-living crisis forcing people to find other, cheaper places to live.

Over the past year, the city has experienced another increase in the number of TA residents, with the number rising to 122 in 2023/24, which is in line with the general increase across the UK.

When authorities run out of immediate space in specific TA premises, other types of accommodation are used to house people such as hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
The cost to Blackburn with Darwen Council for temporary accommodation has risen from £63,000 to £390,000 in the past three years.The cost to Blackburn with Darwen Council for temporary accommodation has risen from £63,000 to £390,000 in the past three years.
The cost to Blackburn with Darwen Council for temporary accommodation has risen from £63,000 to £390,000 in the past three years. | Personal Injury Claims UK

Hotels are one the main forms of TA, and across England in the past year, 50,546 people lived in hotel accommodation, up 10 per cent from last year.

In Blackburn with Darwen, hotel numbers also make up a large proportion of TA figures, making up around 25 per cent over the past three years.

In addition, the short-term rental market, such as Airbnb, has reduced the number of properties that councils can use.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.