The number of children living in the council's temporary accommodation — emergency housing like B&Bs, hostels and short-term flats for families who have nowhere else to live. Children in this situation often change schools, share cramped rooms and live out of bags. A high number means childhood disruption on a large scale in that area; a low number means few children are growing up in limbo.
| name | ta_children_total |
|---|---|
| dataset | 06-hclic-temporary-accommodation |
| kind | extracted |
| type | count |
| unit | children |
| grain | local authority (England) |
| role | outcome |
| source | data/Statutory_Homelessness_Detailed_Local_Authority_Data_202603.ods, sheet TA1, col 6 'Children in TATotal' |
| period | Quarter-end snapshot, 31 March 2026 (Q4 FY2025-26); quarterly series from 2018 Q2; same columns in 202512_revised and 2024-25 annual files |
| missingness | Small counts rounded and some values suppressed; some LAs miss or partially complete H-CLIC returns and are imputed/flagged by MHCLG (see Notes sheet); previous-quarter figures routinely revised. |
| score_note | Welfare framing of caseload size; demand context, not placement choice. |
| peer_group | council class (district / county / unitary / metropolitan / London) — not yet scored on the leaderboard |
Number of dependent children living in temporary accommodation at quarter end. A welfare-focused view of the same caseload: the same TA count means something different if it holds many children. Counts children, not households.