The number of households in temporary housing has reached a new high in Brighton and Hove. The previous five-year high was set in November and December last year, with 2,170 households in temporary housing – but the figure has gone up every month so far this year. At the end of June, there were 2,292 households living in temporary housing. The pressure comes not just from the increasing numbers needing help but from the high cost of temporary housing combined with a continued reliance on nightly booked emergency housing. Councillors and officials want to reduce the cost of paying private landlords for temporary housing and the council has been awarded £16.4 million from the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund to buy homes to use as temporary housing.