More than 300 children in Darlington, County Durham and North Yorkshire are being housed in temporary accommodation, new data reveals.

The new Labour government has branded the crisis as a "national scandal" as the number of children living in temporary accommodation hit a record high.

Nationally, a record 120,000 households were living in temporary accommodation.

The number of children living in uncertainty rose by 15 per cent to over 150,000 - the highest since records began in 2004.

Here is a breakdown of the number of children in temporary accommodation in our region:

  • Darlington - 34
  • County Durham - 150
  • North Yorkshire - 130

Living in temporary accommodation is classed as a type of homelessness and includes those forced to live in bed and breakfasts or hostels.

In County Durham, 38 households were living in B&B hotels as of March.

By law, B&Bs are meant to be used only for families in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks.

But across England, the number of households with children exceeding that timeframe has rocketed by 80% from 1,810 in 2023 to 3,250 this year.

This included one in County Durham.

Michael Kelleher, head of planning and housing at Durham County Council, said: "England is in the midst of a homelessness crisis, and this has led to an increased demand for temporary accommodation nationally.

"In County Durham, we are committed to working with our partners to address housing need and prevent homelessness and rough sleeping. This pledge is at the heart of our new five-year Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, which sets out how we will tackle these issues and ensure people who are affected have the support they need.

"Our priorities for the next 12 months include increasing the number of council-owned and commissioned temporary accommodation units to reduce reliance on B&Bs and hotels. We are also embarking on a new house building programme to deliver 500 new affordable properties for local people in housing need."

Housing charity Shelter said this Government must "tackle the housing emergency head on".

Chief executive Polly Neate said: "Without a clear plan to invest in genuinely affordable social homes, thousands more children will be forced to grow up in damaging temporary accommodation, spending months if not years living out of suitcases, crammed into grim bedsits and B&Bs, and unable to put down any roots."

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said: "We currently have 85 households in temporary accommodation, 29 of those are in B&B/hotels. Any families with children would be moved into either self-contained or temporary housing as soon as possible, and would be in B&Bs/hotels no longer than six weeks.

"We work proactively to support households to find permanent accommodation and follow all guidance around the use of B&B/hotels and ensure we do not use this long term.

"We are also currently reviewing our Preventing Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy."

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Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: "We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and homelessness remains at record levels. This is nothing short of a national scandal.

"Urgent action must be taken to fix this. That’s why we are working across Government and with local leaders to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness for good."

To prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, Ms Rayner said the Government will deliver "the biggest increase in social and affordable homebuilding in a generation".