A ‘chronic shortage’ of homes that people can afford to live in has led to a huge increase in homeless children and families in Slough.

Newly-released figures show the number of homeless children in Slough skyrocketed to 1,285 living in temporary accommodation in the first three months of this year - up from 474 in the same period last year.

Slough Borough Council pinned the crisis on rising private rents and evictions. A spokesperson told the Observer: “Slough has a chronic shortage of housing that local people on average incomes can afford.

“The cost-of-living crisis means we are facing exceptional pressures on our housing services and the need to provide temporary accommodation for those in dire housing need.”

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They added: “Rising interest rates have led to buy-to-let mortgages becoming unaffordable for some landlords. Some have decided to sell their properties, while some have chosen to re-let their properties at much higher rents, pushing more families into homelessness.

“We have also seen an increase in evictions from the private rented sector, with the courts catching up with repossession hearings and evictions after the pandemic.”

The spokesperson said this meant that there are now also fewer privately-let homes that the council can find for families who are at risk of becoming homeless. It means more families are instead being placed in temporary accommodation such as bed and breakfasts.

In total there were 1,019 homeless households in Slough between January and March, of which 604 had children. That compares to 378 homeless households, of which 213 had children between January and March last year.

The figures now suggest that Slough has the highest rate of households in temporary accommodation outside of London, with 18.2 per 1,000 households.

Around 23 families with children were living in bed and breakfasts or shared annexes after being placed there by the council to avoid homelessness in the first three months of this year. That’s up from just two in the same period last year.

The news comes after Slough Borough Council had to commit to spending £1.4 million more on housing this year than it did last year, mostly to take into account the rising costs of temporary accommodation. It comes after it spent more than £6 million more than it planned last year.

But the council says that as the budget is set in advance, rising demand means it could spend even more.

The spokesperson said: “With an increase in homeless approaches leading to an increase in Temporary Accommodation placements, spend will substantially increase.

“With rental charges for temporary acommodation being very high and with the cost of living crisis for many residents, the rents are generally higher and may cause budgetary pressures as a result.”

They added that the council was looking at ways to move families to less expensive accommodation, or to longer-term housing ‘which is affordable and suitable for the household’.