The number of Southampton children in temporary accommodation has almost doubled since 2019.

New analysis, which was conducted by the Southampton Labour Party, suggests that the number of children in temporary accommodation in the city has increased by 82 per cent since the 2019 general election.

In the first quarter of the 2018/19 financial year, there were a total of 238 children in temporary accommodation, whilst in Q3 of 2024/25 the number was 527.

Labour said that it is getting "Britain back on track fast" after "14 years of chaos of incompetence" under the Conservatives, while the Tories said the increase was "another casualty of local Labour incompetence".

The government has announced plans to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of the Parliament, by giving councils powers to keep housebuilders on track and encourage smaller builders.

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Councillor Lorna Fielker, leader of Southampton City Council, said: “We need new homes for local families in Southampton, and we need them built as quickly as possible.

“After 14 years of chaos and incompetence Labour was never going to be able to turn this country round overnight, but measures like these – new powers for councils to keep housebuilders on track, and government backing for smaller housebuilders – are all part of getting Britain back on track fast, and building 1.5m new homes over the course of the parliament.

“In Southampton, planning permission has already been granted for 5,000 new homes that are still waiting to be built. These new powers will help ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future."

Among the new council powers are housebuilding timeframes to be set before planning permission is granted, and penalties for developers who sit on land with planning permission without building.

Some developers deliberately sitting on vital land could see their sites acquired by councils where there is a case in the public interest and stripped of future planning permissions.

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However, the Conservative leader on the council, Peter Baillie, blamed the Labour administration for the local shortfall in housing.

He said: "The figures are disappointing, as we know how much being in temporary accommodation adversely affects young people.

"I suspect it is directly related to the terrible state that Labour got the council housing in.

"Hopefully, as council housing improves and other accommodation is made available, the figures will improve."

Cllr Baillie also claimed that the increase in children in temporary accommodation is "another casualty of local Labour incompetence".