A fall in the cost of bed and breakfast rooms is set to save London's councils more than £1m this year.
Figures from the Greater London Authority's housing and homelessness unit show that the price of rooms has dropped by up to £3.50 a night in some parts of the capital.

It is the first big reduction since the housing crash of the early 1990s.

The fall in prices happened as all of London's 33 boroughs met the government's 31 March deadline to stop using B&Bs for homeless families with children except for up to six weeks in an emergency.

The move has had the knock-on effect of bringing down the cost of London B&Bs for single homeless people, who can still be temporarily housed in B&Bs.

Most other English councils also met the deadline even though some started with hundreds of families living in B&Bs for prolonged periods.

Ian Fitzpatrick, housing services manager at Worthing council, said: "It has been almost a culture change.

"A year ago, some people wouldn't have foreseen it being so successful."

The GLA estimated that boroughs would save £1m during 2004/5 if the number of single people and families housed in B&B for emergencies remained constant. The number of families currently stands at 100.

Source

Housing Today