“Nowhere for them to go”: Young People in Temporary Accommodation in Wales
In the New Year, End Youth End Youth Homelessness Cymru will be publishing a short report on the amount of time that young people are spending in unsupported temporary accommodation (TA) in Wales.
Our research has found that young people are spending longer in TA on average than at any time in the last 7 years, with a 71% increase in the time spent in TA since 2017/2018 for 18-25-year-olds.
Through a series of FOI (Freedom of Information Act) requests, EYHC has found that young people in Wales are spending an increased length of time in temporary accommodation. We asked all 22 local authorities in Wales what was the average length of time young people are spending in unsupported temporary accommodation. Responses to our request were mixed, with only 8 of the 22 local authorities able to respond fully. The request asked for the average length of time in days that young people were spending within TA in their local authority for each year between 2017-2024. We asked for this to be broken down into 16 and 17-year-olds and 18-25-year-olds.
The gap in data on this issue and the subsequent gap in our understanding was the initial motivation to undertake this research. It is therefore frustrating that despite the FOIs, we still do not possess the full picture. As a result, this data gap persists to an extent. This, as well as other issues regarding data collection and youth homelessness more broadly, is something we continue to raise with the Welsh Government.
The need to move all people, but particularly young people out of temporary accommodation and into long-term supported accommodation as quickly as possible is well established. Poor quality housing, instability and overall lack of support can have a huge negative impact on a person’s wellbeing (Dearden 2024). EYHC was formed as a direct response to the vulnerability of young people to abuse and exploitation when they are placed in unsupported TA. Indeed, the Welsh Government is committed to making all forms of homelessness “brief” as well as “rare and unrepeated”.
Our research shows that young people in Wales aged 16 and 17 are spending 84 days on average in temporary accommodation in 2023/2024, up from 62 days in 2017/2018, a 35% increase. 18–25-year-olds on average spend 113 days in Temporary accommodation in 2023/2024, up from 66 days in 2017/2018, a 71% increase. One individual local authority saw 16 and 17-year-olds spending an average of 329 days in TA while 18-25-year-olds were spending an average of 341 days in TA. There has also been a jump in recent years, with some local authorities seeing an increase in the average length of stay by 88% between 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
Some positive news emerged with several local authorities confirming that they do not use unsupported TA for 16 and 17-year-olds. We were also glad to see that the younger age group were not spending as long in TA as the older cohort and that the rate of increase in the length of stay had not been as dramatic for the younger group.
Speaking to some frontline staff from across Wales, they attributed these increases to the intense pressure on the housing system in Wales, particularly the lack of suitable move-on options. One professional we spoke to told us there is “nowhere for them to go” when discussing trying to move young people out of TA. Difficulties in commissioning enough supported accommodation in some areas, the overall inaccessibility and unsuitable nature of the private rented sector, and a lack of social housing all contributed to issues with moving young people out of TA and into more suitable accommodation.
Given the difficulty in obtaining the data, we have been unable to make full recommendations. However, we are calling on the Welsh Government to look at how to improve the available data in this area. We also wished to raise issues around the Freedom of Information Act and the responsiveness of some local authorities. Ultimately, we wanted to highlight the pressing need to take action to support local authorities in moving young people out of TA and into long-term supported accommodation.