Agents and landlords urged to help cut councils’ £2.9bn temporary housing bill

# What happened SDM Property, a Southampton-based lettings agency, says agents and private landlords can reduce councils' reliance on costly temporary accommodation by finding longer-term homes for people in emergency or temporary housing. The agency reports it secured 532 tenancies in the past year for people who were homeless or living in temporary settings and is expanding the approach along the south coast.

# Why it matters English councils spent a record £2.9bn on temporary accommodation in the year to March 2026. That figure compares with £1.6bn five years earlier and includes £1.9bn on nightly-paid accommodation, hostels and B&Bs. At the end of March 2026, 135,580 households were living in temporary accommodation. Those costs affect council budgets and taxpayers, while families face prolonged instability.

# How SDM's approach works

• Work with councils to identify households at risk of long-term temporary accommodation.
• Use agent relationships with landlords to place tenants who might otherwise be refused because they claim benefits or fall outside Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

This mix of letting, acquisition and management aims to keep families housed in their communities rather than moving them into hotels or temporary hostels.

# Example case New Forest District Council contacted SDM when a landlord served notice on a two-bedroom flat occupied by a family. Instead of moving the family, SDM found an investor willing to buy the flat with the tenants remaining. The purchase and tenancy management were completed quickly, and the family stayed in their home.

# Limits and scope SDM stresses this is a local, pragmatic model focused on people already homeless or in emergency accommodation, not on specialist migrant housing schemes. The agency acknowledges the private rented sector cannot solve homelessness alone, but says targeted cooperation between agents, willing landlords and councils can reduce pressure on temporary accommodation budgets.

# Where SDM is expanding SDM has recently taken on around 10 units in Bournemouth and three in Portsmouth, and is actively seeking more properties in Southampton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and surrounding areas. The agency is encouraging landlords who previously excluded benefit claimants to reconsider.

# Practical actions for agents and landlords

• Agents: document successful placements with councils and landlords, build relationships with local housing teams, and present case studies showing stable tenancy outcomes.
• Landlords: consider lower-risk pathways for tenants on benefits, such as guaranteed rent schemes, managed tenancies or investor-backed purchases where tenants stay on.
• Councils: identify households likely to become long-term temporary-accommodation users and route them toward coordinated solutions with local agents.

# Bottom line SDM's model shows a set of concrete steps agents and private landlords can take to reduce the time families spend in temporary accommodation and to lower councils' expenditure. Scaling the approach depends on more landlords being willing to accept tenants on benefits, stronger local partnerships, and replicating practical transaction structures that keep tenants in place after a sale.