400% rise in B&B use prompts Welsh clampdown

The Welsh assembly is set to follow the lead of the government in England and crack down on the use of bed-and-breakfast accommodation to house homeless people.

Edwina Hart, social justice and regeneration minister, said last Wednesday she was considering new legislation for the principality after the number of homeless people in B&Bs leapt by 418% between 2001 and 2004.

The cost to Welsh councils of housing people in B&Bs is expected to rocket from £1.6m in 2002 to £4m this year. In March this year, there were 691 households in B&Bs, including about 250 children.

The legislation in Wales will at least match its English equivalent but could go further. In England, families with children must not stay in B&Bs for longer than six weeks.

Hart told the assembly’s social justice and regeneration committee that families with children could be taken out of B&Bs by March 2007. A consultation paper will be published on the options in the new year and could include discussion of extra funds to help councils meet the target. There are also likely to be minimum standards set for B&B hotels.

However, homelessness charity Shelter Cymru suggested that the Welsh version of the law should ensure families, pregnant women and 16- and 17- year-olds do not stay in a B&B for more than 13 days. It wants the law eventually to be extended to include all groups defined as a priority for rehousing under the Homelessness Act, such as those homeless after leaving the armed forces or prison.

Councils are worried they might not be able to find alternatives to B&B within the deadlines suggested by Shelter Cymru.

Ros Tyrrell, regional strategy officer for local authorities in north Wales, said: “I am extremely concerned that there is a lack of recognition of operational problems in trying to find alternatives [to B&B] and we are particularly concerned about rural areas.

“Most counties in north Wales are tourist areas where the availability of private sector leasing, as an alternative to B&B, is very low.”

Instead, local authorities want a rule similar to England’s six-week limit on B&B accommodation for families with children.

Shelter Cymru director John Puzey welcomed the crackdown. “We want to see a shift to prevention work and we would say to the assembly that there would need to be resources,” he said.