EFFORTS to increase the availability of temporary accommodation for families facing homelessness in Leicester have reached a milestone.
Leicester City Council has invested around £45 million over the last 18 months to secure 350 houses and flats for use as emergency accommodation for people facing homelessness, and as permanent homes.
As part of that investment, the city council has successfully bought over 100 traditional family houses, with the purchase of 15 more soon to be completed. They include 81 three-bedroom houses, and 39 two-bedroom properties.
All 120 houses will provide self-contained emergency accommodation for families as an alternative to expensive bed and breakfast and other pay-by-night accommodation.
An additional 134 temporary accommodation units have also been secured to provide emergency accommodation for single people.
The city council has appointed specialist housing expert The Housing Network to manage the properties and provide additional support to residents while they seek more permanent accommodation.
To help support this, the council has also successfully secured leases of 100 additional properties to provide longer-term housing for those facing or going through homelessness.
The programme of investment has already helped to reduce the number of people who were staying in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks from 188 in July 2024, to just 12 last month – a reduction of 93 per cent.
The overall number of families needing temporary accommodation in the city continues to rise, increasing from 449 in April 2024 to 630 families in September 2025.
Deputy city mayor Cllr Elly Cutkelvin, who leads on housing, economy and neighbourhoods, said: “As part of the major investment we’re making in tackling homelessness, I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to secure more than 100 family-friendly homes.
“These are all traditional two- and three-bedroom houses that will provide much more suitable emergency accommodation for families than the bed and breakfasts that councils across the country are becoming increasingly reliant on.
"As well as benefiting parents and children, increasing the amount of proper, temporary homes that the council owns will help save millions of pounds each year by reducing the demand for expensive and inadequate pay-by-night alternatives.
“This is a positive step, but the housing crisis has not gone away and we are still seeing a huge rise in the number of people asking for our help.
“Even with all the measures we are taking including the delivery of 1,500 new affordable homes in the city, we are still facing huge budget pressures every year, which is why we are continuing to call on the Government for realistic funding for our vital housing and homelessness services.”
Leicester City Council declared a housing crisis in November 2022. In response, it approved a decision to invest £45 million from the general fund into additional homelessness accommodation and services.
It is estimated that this major programme of investment will pay for itself within three years by reducing the reliance on emergency bed and breakfast accommodation.
The investment programme is currently on track to avoid projected annual budget pressures of £45 million by 2027.