- Billions spent on hotels and B&Bs should be redirected into building high-quality modular homes for homeless people and families
- England’s councils are spending £2.8billion a year on temporary accommodation, with costs forecast to approach £4billion by the end of the decade
- Places for People wants to work with councils to redirect more of that funding into modular homes built on unused council land and disused car parks
- Modular homes built up to 50% faster, and could save councils millions a year in rent.
- More than 134,000 households are living in temporary accommodation across England
- Teri Jackson whose son regularly missed school due to hotel living said “Modular home will change everything”
A major UK housing provider wants to work with councils across England to help deliver the Government’s pledge to end rough sleeping, calling for billions spent on emergency hotels and B&Bs to be invested instead in building modular homes on unused council land.
Places for People (PfP) says England’s £2.8billion annual temporary accommodation bill could be used far more effectively if it was used to deliver quality purpose-built modular homes – a move that could save hundreds of millions in the long-term while helping families escape months or even years in unsuitable, cramped emergency accommodation.
Following Prime Minister, Andy Burnham’s pledge to end rough sleeping, PfP is offering to work with councils to see this approach, which it has already trialled in Bristol, rolled-out nationally.
More than 134,000 households in England are currently living in temporary accommodation – including 176,000 children – according to the latest government figures. For many, this means living in cramped hotel rooms, hostels or B&Bs, regularly moving, with shared or zero access to cooking and laundry facilities and no permanent address.
At the same time, English councils are under mounting financial pressure with the £2.8billion they spend on temporary accommodation projected to rise to £4billion by the end of the decade, according to the Local Government Association.
Much of that money (almost £850million per year) was spent on expensive emergency B&Bs and hostel stays. For mother-of-three Teri Jackson (38) from Bristol, this became her life.
She currently lives in a one-bedroom emergency accommodation flat with her two sons aged 20 and 11 while waiting for social housing.
Despite limited space, it’s an improvement. In January 2024, she left a privately rented home she describes as “uninhabitable” and was placed in emergency accommodation beginning a period of crippling instability which saw them spend over seven months in hotels, moving frequently.
Teri said:
“For seven months I had no fixed address and me and my sons were just living on top of each other. There was nowhere I could cook or wash clothes and we ate takeaways every night. It was unhealthy and so expensive.
“For the last seven weeks, I was moved every Monday. I wouldn’t know where we were going until that morning. I had to pack everything on Sunday, wait, then move.
“My son missed school every Monday for seven weeks, and I had to take time off work. At one point we were placed in Bath – a 90-minute round trip to school.
“It felt like I didn’t exist – I was just surviving for my children.”
Teri says she recalls once seeing a £2,900 invoice intended for the local council for a three-week hotel stay, despite her not even having somewhere to cook for her children or wash their clothes.
PfP, a leading social enterprise and one of the UK’s largest social housing providers, believes using that money to develop modular housing offers a practical and cheaper alternative.
Built off-site and with potential to be installed in as little as 12 months, modular homes meet the same quality and environmental standards as traditional builds, last for at least 60 years, and the construction process can be 30-50% faster.
Crucially, they can be installed on small or underused plots of land – including disused car parks and other vacant council-owned sites that might otherwise sit idle.
PfP says councils in England could rapidly deliver affordable, quality homes for thousands of families reliant on temporary accommodation by bringing underused public land into use and redirecting temporary accommodation funding into building modular housing and away from costly hotels and B&Bs.
It wants to work with councils to scale this approach up nationally to support the Government tackle homelessness. Redirecting even a fraction of the current temporary accommodation budget could deliver thousands of homes while saving councils hundreds of millions of pounds over time.
In Bristol, the approach is already being put into practice. Places for People, working with Bristol City Council, has delivered 20 modular homes for people at risk of homelessness to date, with more nearing completion.
Based on its work to date in Bristol, PfP calculates that each modular home could save councils up to £24,540 on rents per person every year where an individual or family is moved from emergency hotel/B&B accommodation. PfP sets rents at costs rather than for profit. *
A development of ten homes, for example, could save around £245,000 annually – while providing families with self-contained accommodation, including private bedrooms, kitchens and living spaces.
At Fortfield Road in Bristol, a new scheme of two-bedroom modular homes for vulnerable families is nearing completion. The homes, constructed by PfP’s own modular specialist Modularwise, will offer stability for up to two years, alongside tailored support to help residents move into permanent housing.
Teri and her sons, currently in a one-bed emergency accommodation flat managed by PfP, have been offered a place to live there while they wait to secure a social home.
Teri said:
“When I moved into my current place, it felt amazing because we could cook, wash, and have privacy. But it’s still one bedroom.
“Both my children have additional needs, and the space just doesn’t work. This modular home will change everything. Just having space – somewhere we can properly live – would mean the world while we wait for a permanent home.”
In addition to a private space and an own front door, schemes like this also integrate support services, connecting residents with healthcare, employment and other resources – something rarely possible in temporary accommodation. This includes a pathway into more permanent accommodation. Combined, modular housing supports long-term wellbeing compared with other forms of temporary accommodation.
Larry Gold, CEO for Housing and Communities at PfP, said:
“Temporary accommodation has become a national crisis, with hundreds of thousands of families – including 176,000 children – growing up in hotel rooms and B&Bs without the stability or space they need to thrive.
“There is a clear opportunity and urgent need to do things differently and we want to use our experience to help Government and councils end the homelessness and temporary accommodation crisis.
“By investing in modular housing, we can not only reduce the enormous costs associated with temporary accommodation, but far more importantly provide people with the safe, secure homes they deserve.
“We must move beyond outdated perceptions of modular as a stop gap. These are high-quality, long-lasting homes that can play a central role in tackling both the immediate pressures of homelessness and the long-term housing shortage.
“We are here and ready to work with Government and councils to do this. The funding is already there; we need to use it more effectively – supported by speeding up the planning process and unlocking unused public land.
“Modular housing gives us a practical way to act now due to quick delivery – moving families out of unsuitable accommodation and into homes where they can rebuild their lives, with the right support alongside them. We are here and ready to help this national rollout.”
While increasing the supply of permanent affordable homes remains essential, PfP is urging policymakers to recognise the role modular housing can play as an immediate, scalable solution.
PfP is calling for:
- Leadership: PfP wants to work with councils across the country to prioritise development of modular housing for temporary/emergency accommodation, by unlocking unused land and redirecting money spent on hotels and B&Bs..
- Planning and regulation: Faster planning processes, including the introduction of fast-track approvals for modular developments; review of regulation to enable fast delivery
- Skills: Investment in skills and training to grow the modular construction workforce
- Funding: Reform of funding models to prioritise modern methods of construction in temporary accommodation provision