Figures released in a recent council meeting have revealed that the number of Cornish families in temporary accommodation has risen sharply since the pandemic.

In this week’s meeting of the economic growth and development overview and scrutiny committee, Councillor Phil Mason said that there are currently approximately 700 family groups in temporary accommodation in Cornwall.

This is an increase of 450 since before the pandemic, with the councillor saying that number is staying “stubbornly high”, creating a budgetary pressure on the council itself.

The increase has been largely attributed to the fact that families are not being moved out from temporary accommodation to permanent accommodation.

This means that despite the council reporting that there has been a slight decrease in the amount of people needing to be moved into temporary accommodation, the total number of families in temporary homes is rising.

The temporary accommodation consists partially of hotel rooms in Travelodges and Premier Inns, which the councillor called “unsuitable”, not only because it is not ideal for the families, but also because this is expensive for the council.

Councillor Mason commented in the meeting: "Nobody wants to see families in B&Bs, Travelodges, Premier Inns. I would rather have a proper home that people can properly live in and at a level that the council can recover through housing benefits."

"Since late 2020 the number of people needing new accommodation has been on a slight decline, but the number of people staying in temporary accommodation remains stubbornly high as we can’t get people out into permanent accommodation.”