East Lothian Council has approved a strategy to increase the supply of better quality temporary accommodation for homeless households.

Around 1200 people present to the council as homeless each year, although this number is rising due to the ongoing economic climate.

The largest group presenting to the homeless service are single people but councillors heard that a shortage of one-bedroom accommodation means that the council is having to use bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation to meet its legal housing requirements to these applicants.

Crucially, the number of families being placed in B&B has dropped significantly - from 266 children in 06/07 to 49 in 09/10, while the average length of a family's stay has reduced to 10 days.

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Councillors approved a new Temporary Accommodation Strategy, which will see officials work on a twin-track approach to tackle the problem.

The council will explore short-term options for providing additional temporary accommodation - such as working with Registered Social Landlords and private sector leasing partner Orchard and Shipman. At the same time it will continue to work to ensure stays within temporary accommodation are minimised through reviewing policies and increasing the supply of affordable housing.

Cabinet member for Housing Councillor Stuart Currie said: "It's heartening to note that, even considering the pressures our service faces, we're meeting all of our legal responsibilities to provide accommodation to homeless people and especially to homeless families.

"However bed and breakfast accommodation is not our preferred option. It doesn't offer applicants the stability they badly need or provide a base from which they can rebuild their lives. For the council, it is a more expensive option. Unfortunately a shortage of available properties means that we often have no choice.

"To tackle the issue we need to increase the supply of homes by working closely with our partners. This is particularly important as we move towards 2012, when changes to legislation will significantly increase the number of homeless cases that we will have a responsibility to accept and accommodate."

(GK)