More families left homeless at Christmas

The number of homeless families staying in bed-and-breakfast accommodation has doubled in a year, according to official figures.

Between 2010 and 2011 the number of homeless households with dependent children or a pregnant woman in B&B hotels in London doubled from 1,230 to 2,460, according to data from the Department for Communities obtained by the Labour Party.

Over the same period, the number of families staying in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks almost trebled, from 190 to 560. Data for London for the first six months of 2012 suggests the problem has got even worse this year, with 1,910 families with children in B&Bs compared to 1,020 in the same period in 2011.

Jack Dromey MP, Labour's Shadow Housing Minister, said: "Families should not be spending Christmas in bed-and-breakfast accommodation, but under this Tory-led Government the problem is getting worse, not better.

"While millionaires get a tax cut, thousands of families are spending Christmas without a permanent roof over their head."