Better Temporary Accommodation for Londoners

Nearly 70,000 households in London are homeless and living in temporary accommodation (TA). As its name signals, TA was only ever meant to be just that – temporary.

But without affordable housing, families can be in TA for long periods of time, often separated from their communities and in sub-standard conditions.

Our vision

We believe that every stay in TA should be short, safe and healthy. Our aim is to ensure that people’s experience in temporary accommodation is as dignified as possible while they wait for stable housing. And together with our partners, we're building consensus of what it will take to end the TA emergency in London.

Why change is needed

Only a few organisations specialise in advocating for and with the large numbers of Londoners living in temporary and insecure housing. Over the past few years we have sought to work with them, strengthening their voices and the voices of those they work with in policy discussions. This has helped to reduce their isolation and connect them with the people with the power to make change.

People living in TA may also struggle to know where or how to make their voices heard, and to access support and services. At the same time, policy- and decision-makers say they want to hear from Londoners in TA and organisations working with them, and are willing to refer people to support where it is available.

We fund work ranging from the hyper-local to London-wide. And the organisations we fund come together several times a year, to learn from each other and build a movement to end the temporary accommodation emergency.

What we're working on

The Fix the Five Basics campaign

Many families and people in temporary accommodation are in appalling conditions. Often, they lack even basic things we all take for granted - like somewhere to cook, wash clothes, safely store belongings, connect to the internet and understand their situation.

With our funded partners and a growing informal alliance of organisations across London, we're working on a campaign to change this - Fix the Five Basics.

The campaign calls on local authorities across the city to ensure everyone in temporary accommodation has access to these five basics none of us can live without.

Find out more about Fix the Five Basics

Working with people with lived experience

For change to happen, people with lived experience of temporary accommodation need to be at its heart. But engaging with people with lived experience needs to be done in the right way, so that it's meaningful and not extractive.

With our Better Temporary Accommodation partners we brought together learnings to create a guide to working with people with lived experience, which informs all of our work on TA.

Read our guide to working with people with lived experience

Latest research

We fund organisations across the capital to carry out research into Londoners’ experiences in temporary accommodation, to improve our understanding of the crisis. Explore the research we've funded below.

Enfield and Spanish Language local campaign groups (TA Forums)

We're developing two small grants and capacity-building projects - one in Enfield and the other with Spanish language groups in South London.

The projects will bring local groups that work with people in TA together in 'TA Forums'. The work will include a learning programme and support from an expert campaigner to support local campaigns.

About the programme

Better temporary accommodation for Londoners is funded by Trust for London, Oak Foundation, City Bridge Foundation and Impact on Urban Health. It aims to strengthen the voice, connections and influence of people in TA and ultimately to end the emergency in TA in London. The programme is part of Trust for London’s 2030 Funding Strategy.