Oct 18, 2026 · @Ernest Rukangira
This article sets out what Enfield Council’s Freedom of Information data shows about temporary accommodation for homeless households. The Council reported an average of 1,364 days against placements inside Enfield in 2024/25, compared with 710 days in 2022/23. However, it has not explained which households or periods this measure covers, so the figures require clarification before they can be interpreted as typical waiting times.
The data also shows a growing share of placements outside the borough: 41% of records in the placement-location table for 2024/25, up from 23% in 2022/23.
The article covers how many placements were recorded and where, what the length-of-stay figures can and cannot tell us, who was recorded in temporary accommodation in May 2026, what the Council did not tell us, and what we are asking it to change.
About the Freedom of Information Request
This article draws on a Freedom of Information request received by Enfield Council on 21 April 2026. The Housing Assessments and Allocations team responded on 14 May 2026, and the Housing Advisory Service responded on 19 May 2026. The request covered housing allocations, temporary accommodation, evictions and equality.
The Council notes that its placement figures include internal transfers between temporary addresses, so a household moved within temporary accommodation may be counted more than once. We treat the figures as records of placements, not counts of households.
Placements Rose Sharply and Moved Out of the Borough
The placement-location table records 387 placements in 2022/23, 1,401 in 2023/24 and 1,533 in 2024/25. The Council has not said whether recording changed between the first two years, so the size of that jump should be treated with care.
The Council’s separate table of placements by ethnicity gives the same totals for 2022/23 and 2023/24, but 1,591 for 2024/25, 58 more than the location table. The Council has not explained the difference, so we use the location table for location shares and the ethnicity table for ethnicity shares, and treat neither as a definitive total.
The clearer trend is where placements were made. In the placement-location table, placements outside Enfield rose from 88 (23%) to 628 (41%), and the number of other council areas used rose from 17 to 39.
Recorded Stays for Placements in Enfield Have Lengthened
The Council reported an average number of days in temporary accommodation for each placement area. For placements inside Enfield, the figure rose from 710 days in 2022/23 to 893 in 2023/24 and 1,364 in 2024/25.
The Council has not explained which households or periods this measure covers. Several calculation methods could produce these figures, so they cannot yet be read as the typical time a household waits. We are asking the Council to define the measure.
Where Placements Are Made
In 2024/25, the largest out-of-borough destination was Redbridge, with 326 placements. Others included Barking and Dagenham (45), Newham (30), Harlow (27), Haringey (24), Herefordshire (24), Waltham Forest (22), Dacorum (15) and Luton (14).
Placements were also recorded as far away as Liverpool (2), West Suffolk (1) and Inverclyde in Scotland (1). The reported averages for areas outside Enfield were usually much lower than for placements inside it, such as 100 days in Redbridge and 76 days in Herefordshire, but some were long, including 1,038 days for the one placement in Hounslow.
Who Was Recorded in Temporary Accommodation in May 2026
In May 2026, the Council listed 3,120 households in temporary accommodation by ethnicity, of which 1,201 (38.5%) had no usable ethnicity data, including blank, unknown and refused responses. Of the 1,919 with a recorded ethnicity, 639 (33.3%) were Black/African and 252 (13.1%) were White British; all Black ethnic groups together made up 46.9%.
Black/African households were 25.0% of housing register applicants with a recorded ethnicity in 2025/26. These datasets describe different populations and reporting periods. Their percentages do not establish the likelihood of placement by ethnicity, particularly given the substantial missing data.
What the Council Did Not Tell Us
The Council withheld the total number of households placed, saying it is already published in government homelessness tables. It marked accommodation type as “see attached”, but the attachment contained no breakdown of bed and breakfast, hostel or leased accommodation.
It gave no ethnicity breakdown of out-of-borough placements, so we cannot say whether some communities are sent further away than others. About 60% of placement records in each year also had no usable ethnicity data.
Why Long Stays and Distant Placements Matter
A stay of several years in temporary accommodation affects every part of family life. Children may change school or travel long distances, adults may lose work or care arrangements, and households may struggle to keep in touch with the services and support that helped them before.
Distance adds a further barrier. A household placed far from Enfield must still respond to the Council and attend appointments, and those on the housing register who are bidding for a permanent home must keep doing so, often with less access to advice and support. Not every household leaves temporary accommodation through a social housing allocation; some move into private rented homes or other settled accommodation.
The Council faces real constraints, including a shortage of affordable homes in the borough and high demand. But when the Council supplies no data on accommodation type and no ethnicity breakdown of out-of-borough placements, residents cannot see whether those constraints fall equally on every community.
What We Are Asking Enfield Council to Do
We are asking for six practical steps.
- Define how “average days in temporary accommodation” is calculated, explain why the placement totals differ between its tables, and publish both each year.
- Publish the number of households in temporary accommodation by accommodation type, including bed and breakfast, hostels and nightly paid accommodation.
- Publish out-of-borough placements by ethnicity and household type, with small numbers suppressed to protect identities.
- Set out how it considers schooling, work, care and support networks before placing a household outside the borough.
- Adopt the Fix the Five Basics standards for all temporary accommodation it uses: cooking facilities, laundry access, reliable WiFi, secure storage and clear information about rights.
- Report each year how many households move from temporary accommodation into a settled home, and how long they waited.
Your Rights in Temporary Accommodation
You can raise concerns about unsuitable accommodation with the Council. Where a statutory suitability-review right applies, you normally need to request the review within 21 days of being notified of the decision. Interim accommodation has different challenge procedures, so seek independent housing advice promptly.
The law expects councils to place households within their own area so far as is reasonably practicable, and to take account of the disruption a distant placement causes to work, schooling and care.
For households with dependent children or a pregnant household member, B&B accommodation within the legal definition should be used only where no alternative is available, and for no more than six weeks per homelessness application. Not all accommodation described as a hostel or hotel falls within that definition.
If you are unsure about your rights, seek advice from Shelter, Citizens Advice Enfield or another independent adviser before accepting or refusing an offer, because refusing a suitable offer can end the Council’s duty to you.
Opportunities to Improve Temporary Accommodation
The Council already holds placement, location and length-of-stay data by year, as this reply shows. Publishing it as a simple annual dashboard, with accommodation type and ethnicity added, would let residents and councillors track progress without needing a Freedom of Information request.
Community organisations can help households understand their rights, raise concerns about suitability and, where relevant, keep bidding for permanent homes while they wait. Partnership with the Council works best when both sides share the same data.
Where Pressure Is Heading
The spread of placements is widening: the Council used 17 other council areas in 2022/23 and 39 in each of the following two years. Many of those areas face their own housing shortages, so competition for the same properties is likely to keep pushing placements further out unless more homes are found within reach of Enfield.
To know whether the pressure is easing, residents need figures not supplied in this FOI response: how many households enter and leave temporary accommodation each year, and how long those leaving have stayed.
Conclusion: Temporary Should Mean Temporary
Enfield Council’s data shows longer reported averages for placements inside the borough, a growing share of placements outside it, and a higher proportion of Black/African households in the May 2026 temporary accommodation dataset than in the housing register dataset, among records with usable ethnicity data in each dataset. Undefined measures, differing totals and gaps on accommodation type and the ethnicity of out-of-borough placements stop residents seeing the full picture.
We will share these findings with the Council and local councillors and ask for the missing information. If you live in temporary accommodation in or outside Enfield and want to share your experience, we would like to hear from you.
If you found this article useful, please share it with families and advisers dealing with temporary accommodation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which ethnic groups were in temporary accommodation in Enfield?
In May 2026, Black/African households were 33.3% of households in temporary accommodation with a recorded ethnicity, and White British households 13.1%. 38.5% of households had no usable ethnicity data.
How long do people stay in temporary accommodation in Enfield?
The Council reported an average of 1,364 days for placements inside Enfield in 2024/25, up from 710 days in 2022/23. It has not explained how this measure is calculated, so it should not be read as a typical waiting time.
Can Enfield Council place me outside the borough?
Yes, but it should place households in the borough so far as is reasonably practicable and consider the effect on work, schooling and care. Raise any concerns with the Council and seek independent advice.
Where does Enfield place homeless households?
In 2024/25, 41% of records in the Council’s placement-location table were outside Enfield, mostly in Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Harlow, Haringey and Herefordshire.
Can I challenge an unsuitable temporary accommodation placement?
You can raise concerns with the Council. Where a statutory suitability-review right applies, you normally need to request the review within 21 days of being notified of the decision. Interim accommodation has different challenge procedures, so seek independent housing advice promptly.
How long can a family stay in bed and breakfast accommodation?
For households with dependent children or a pregnant household member, B&B accommodation within the legal definition should be used only where no alternative is available, and for no more than six weeks per homelessness application.
References
Enfield Council (2026a) Freedom of Information response: Housing: Allocations, Accommodations, Evictions and Equality. Request received 21 April 2026. Email from Housing Assessments and Allocations to Diversity Rights, 14 May 2026.
Enfield Council (2026b) Freedom of Information response: Housing: Allocations, Accommodations, Evictions and Equality. Request received 21 April 2026. Email from the Housing Advisory Service to Diversity Rights, 19 May 2026.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018a) Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities, Chapter 15: Accommodation duties and powers. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-15-accommodation-duties-and-powers (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018b) Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities, Chapter 17: Suitability of accommodation. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-17-suitability-of-accommodation (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Housing Act 1996, section 202. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/52/section/202 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Housing Act 1996, section 208. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/52/section/208 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 (SI 2003/3326). Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/3326/contents/made (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012 (SI 2012/2601). Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2601/contents/made (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Nzolameso v City of Westminster [2015] UKSC 22. Available at: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2014-0275 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
Disclaimer
This article is based on information supplied by Enfield Council under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and on publicly available sources, accurate to the best of our knowledge at the date of publication. Some figures include internal transfers and have definitions the Council has not confirmed. This article is for public information and campaigning purposes and does not constitute legal or housing advice; seek independent advice about your own situation.