Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza has warned that the government’s Child Poverty Strategy risks missing a crucial opportunity to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children – unless it takes a firmer approach to how councils house homeless families.

In analysis published this month, de Souza highlights that while last year’s Homelessness Strategy and Child Poverty Strategy includes a commitment to end the use of B&B accommodation beyond six weeks, this applies only to privately-owned accommodation, not to properties run by councils or housing associations.

This, she argues, may cause families to be moved between different types of shared accommodation rather than into suitable long-term housing.

“There is a real risk that children will just be moved from one form of shared accommodation to another,” she says, adding: “No child should be living somewhere without a kitchen or bathroom for an extended period of time, regardless of who owns it.”

Without stronger oversight and clearer duties, de Souza suggests, reforms could improve headline figures without meaningfully changing children’s day-to-day experiences.

Her concerns are underpinned by data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) showing that, of the more than 170,000 children officially recorded as living in temporary accommodation, at least 12,330 are spending “long chunks of their childhoods” in B&Bs and hostels with shared facilities.

“Sharing toilets, bathrooms and kitchens with strangers – strangers who themselves may be very vulnerable – poses a significant, often unacceptable, risk to children,” de Souza writes, adding: “It means no space for a toddler to explore, or a teenager to have any privacy.”

This view is shared by Professor Michelle McManus, director of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute for Children’s Futures, who describes prolonged use of B&Bs and similar accommodation as “one of the most acute forms of hardship children can experience”.

McManus adds that such conditions carry “clear risks to children’s health, development, education, and safety”.

Children’s testimonies to the commissioner also underline the impact: one 13-year-old described rarely having access to cooked meals, while an eight-year-old said they simply wanted “enough rooms for everyone”.

In addition, data indicates that children are staying longest in non-private sector provision: while 65% of children in private B&Bs remain beyond six weeks, the figure rises to 90% in council or housing association-run shared accommodation.

In total, 9,510 children had been in such conditions longer than the legal limit, in what de Souza describes as “very far away from being an emergency option”.

Government figures further show that as of 30 June 2025, 520 families had been living in a B&B for over a year, with 30 families there for more than five years – highlighting how “temporary” accommodation can become effectively long-term.

De Souza is therefore calling for the six-week limit to be extended to all forms of shared accommodation, for homelessness targets to include all unsuitable housing, and for more transparent data on where children are living and for how long. She says these measures are essential if the strategy is to deliver real improvements.

McManus adds: “The focus must now shift to outcomes: whether children in temporary accommodation are safe, able to attend school, access healthcare, and experience stability.

“Without that, there is a danger that policy meets its targets on paper while children continue to experience the same harms in practice.”

The government is investing £8mn in its Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots programme – earmarked for 20 local areas with the highest rates of B&B reliance, as part of the Child Poverty Strategy.

However, sector body the Local Government Association argues that while councils strive to meet families’ rights to quality, stable housing, they are operating within significant financial constraints.

In response to a damning MHCLG report exposing temporary accommodation described as “unfit for human habitation”, the LGA highlighted a £1.5 billion shortfall between what councils spend and what they receive from government.

An LGA spokesman said: “While councils endeavour to place homeless households that need temporary accommodation for as short a duration as possible, the shortage of appropriate housing to move families into can make this difficult.

“It is no secret that the scale of the challenge facing local government on temporary accommodation and homelessness – and the financial pressures – are immense.”