Nearly £40 million was spent on temporary housing for the homeless in Brighton and Hove in the year to March as the council stresses the need for more help from government.

New figures, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show £39,874,000 was spent on the provision in the year 2022/23.

Of this, £25,006,000 was covered by the council.

Councillor Gill Williams, the chairwoman of the council’s housing committee, said: “There is no doubt that we are facing a housing crisis like no other, with more than 100,000 households living in temporary accommodation across the country.

“Like many areas, the national housing situation alongside the increases to the cost of living is having a huge impact in Brighton and Hove.

“We work extremely hard to help people avoid becoming homeless, and offer accommodation to people in housing need whenever we have a legal duty to do so.

“We only offer people temporary emergency accommodation as a last resort when all other solutions to their homelessness crisis have been explored.

“When people let us know they are at risk of losing their homes, our housing team always tries to help them find alternative permanent accommodation.

“A significant cause of homelessness is due to evictions from the private rental sector. It is devastating that the government has chosen to drop the commitment to end section 21 no fault evictions.

“We believe everyone deserves a home and we are reviewing our services to ensure we can offer the best possible help to those in need.

“We are building as many new affordable homes as we can and buying back former council homes.

“However, to deliver help more effectively, the government must do more to alleviate the pressure on housing and increase supply of genuinely affordable homes. Currently, demand will always outstrip supply in the city."

She added: “If you are threatened with homelessness, please contact our housing team for advice as soon as possible.

“You can fill in our online housing advice form or phone 01273 294 400 followed by Option 1.

“If you are under 26 please email yacbrightonhousingadvice@ymcadlg.org or phone 01273 624 432.”

Shelter, a homelessness charity, has blamed the freezing of the housing benefit combined with "decades of failure" in housing policy for the growing cost of temporary accommodation to councils.

Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity, said: "We simply can’t keep throwing money at grim B&Bs and hostels instead of focusing on helping families into a home."

"With a general election on the horizon, no one can afford to continue to ignore a crisis of this magnitude."

In Brighton and Hove, £17,900,000 was spent on private accommodation – the most of any type of temporary accommodation in the area.

Across England, £1.7 billion was spent on temporary accommodation in 2022-23.

Figures from the end of March show more than 104,000 households were living in temporary accommodation across England.

Nearly two-thirds of these households were families with children.

A spokesman for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said: "We are committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by preventing homelessness before it occurs in the first place, which is why we are providing councils with £1 billion through the homelessness prevention grant over three years."

"We are also delivering a fairer private rented sector for tenants and landlords through the Renters Reform Bill which includes abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions," he added.