Temporary accommodation linked to deaths of 104 children in England in six years

Living in temporary accommodation has contributed to the deaths of 104 children in England in the past six years, 76 of whom were under the age of one, according to data.

Statistics also show there were 64 stillbirths and 27 neonatal deaths involving mothers living in temporary accommodation (TA) in the UK in 2024. Experts say the housing crisis is pushing families into conditions that endanger their lives.

Siobhain McDonagh, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for households in temporary accommodation, which compiled the data, said she was appalled to see an increase in child deaths linked to TA, which has soared in use in recent years. It is estimated that 135,000 households are living in TA in England, including nearly 176,000 children.

“We should all be outraged by these figures,” McDonagh said. “We need urgent, sustained action to bring down the number of homeless children and to ensure that no family is left in conditions that put lives at risk. Because until that happens, we cannot honestly say we are doing enough.”

The parliamentary group used data from the National Child Mortality Database, which showed that between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2025, 104 children died with TA recorded as a contributing factor to their vulnerability, ill-health or death.

Figures also showed that 140 children died with their main residence listed as TA between October 2023 and September 2025. Each of these will be subject to a formal death review process to find out whether TA was a contributing factor, so the 104 total could rise further.

Data collected for the first time by MBRRACE-UK, a research project into pregnancy-related deaths by the University of Oxford, found that out of 3,303 deaths of babies born between 1 January and 3 December 2024, at least 91 (3%) were to mothers living in TA.

Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, said the issue had become “a normalised emergency that rarely makes the headlines or the top of the government’s priority list”.

“But this, surely, must act as a wake-up call,” he said. “No child should have to grow up without a safe place to call home, let alone lose their life as a result of our broken housing and homelessness system. It’s deplorable and, crucially, avoidable.”

Dr Laura Neilson, the chief executive of the Shared Health Foundation, said the figures were “absolutely scandalous”.

“These deaths are not inevitable,” Neilson said. “They are the direct result of political choices, of systems that are not fit for purpose, and of a housing crisis that is pushing families into conditions that endanger their lives.

“This must be a turning point. Because if we continue to see these figures rise year after year, it will be because we have chosen to tolerate them. That is indefensible.”