Additional legal protections apply
I live in temporary accommodation
Tenants in temporary accommodation
Legal protections that apply to you
- Housing Act 1996 (Sections 206 and 210), the council must make sure your temporary home is suitable for your household, and that includes its condition
- Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003, families with children or a pregnant person should only be placed in B&B accommodation as a last resort, and for no more than 6 weeks
- Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, repair obligations apply where you occupy under a tenancy, which covers most council-provided temporary homes
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, a home let on a tenancy must be fit to live in throughout, not just at the start
- Housing Act 1996 (Section 202), you can ask the council to review whether the accommodation is suitable within 21 days, and you can accept the offer and still ask for the review
Specific things to know
- Some temporary accommodation, including many hostels and B&Bs, is occupied under a licence rather than a tenancy, and different repair rules apply, call us and we will check which applies to you
- Complaints about the condition of your temporary home go to the Housing Ombudsman; complaints about the council's homelessness decisions go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
- Keep paying your rent and charges while you complain, stopping puts your accommodation at risk
- Issues reported less than 21 days ago, landlord still within statutory response window
Real, published cases
We do not publish our own client figures. Instead, you can read real, published statutory rulings against named landlords, with the compensation each was ordered to pay and a link to each source.
See real published casesBy: Support for Tenants editorial team
Last updated:
Reviewed against current housing law for England and Wales as at 15 June 2026. Checked by our SRA-regulated panel solicitors. This is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Any compensation figures or ranges shown are illustrative only, not a promise; every case is different.
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