Emergency accommodation, temporary accommodation and supported housing
Emergency and temporary accommodation explained: the council duties behind them, the B&B six-week rule, and when a placement counts as exempt.
Quick answer
Emergency accommodation is a place to stay at short notice, often arranged by a council under its interim duty while it looks into a homeless application. Temporary accommodation is the wider term for housing councils arrange while they work out or carry out a longer duty. Neither is automatically supported housing. A placement only counts as exempt accommodation if the landlord type and support tests are met.
The short version
- Councils must provide interim accommodation when they have reason to believe someone may be homeless, eligible and in priority need.
- Bed and breakfast is unsuitable for families with children and pregnant women except in an emergency, and then for no more than six weeks.
- Night shelters and severe weather provision are emergency accommodation run outside the statutory duties.
- An emergency bed in exempt accommodation is still assessed against the four exempt tests, claim by claim.
- Housing Benefit subsidy for council temporary accommodation is capped by reference to old Local Housing Allowance rates, which shapes what councils will pay.
In this guide
The words emergency, temporary and supported get mixed up all the time, including by councils. They describe different things, and the difference decides who pays, which rules apply and what the resident can expect.
Three terms, three meanings
| Term | What it means | Typical legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency accommodation | A bed at short notice, often the same day | Council interim duty, or charity provision such as night shelters |
| Temporary accommodation | Housing a council arranges while it decides an application or until a settled home is offered | Housing Act 1996 Part 7 |
| Supported housing | Housing with care, support or supervision built in | Commissioning contracts, Housing Benefit specified accommodation rules |
A single placement can be more than one of these. A council might use a room in a supported shared house as emergency accommodation for a single man leaving prison. It is then emergency accommodation for the council's purposes and may be exempt accommodation for Housing Benefit purposes.
The council duties behind emergency placements
Homelessness law in England is in Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, as changed by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. The duties most relevant to emergency accommodation are:
- The interim duty. If the council has reason to believe someone may be homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need, it must provide interim accommodation while it makes enquiries.
- The relief duty. The council must take reasonable steps to help an eligible homeless person secure accommodation, usually for 56 days.
- The main housing duty. If the person is homeless, eligible, in priority need and not intentionally homeless, the council must secure accommodation until the duty ends, often through temporary accommodation.
Since the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, people who are homeless because of domestic abuse automatically have priority need.
The B&B six-week rule
The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 says bed and breakfast is not suitable for families with children or for pregnant women. It can only be used when nothing else is available, and then for no longer than six weeks. The homelessness code of guidance also says B&B is never suitable for 16 and 17 year olds.
For providers, this means councils under pressure look for alternatives to B&B, including rooms in supported housing. That creates opportunities, and also a risk of being asked to house people the service is not designed for.
Night shelters and severe weather provision
Night shelters, winter shelters and Severe Weather Emergency Protocol beds sit outside the statutory duties. They are usually run by charities and faith groups, sometimes in community buildings, and people stay for a night or a few weeks. Many no longer use communal sleeping spaces and offer single rooms instead.
Because people are not living there as a home and usually pay nothing, Housing Benefit rarely comes into it. Fire safety, safeguarding and data protection duties still apply.
When emergency accommodation is exempt accommodation
An emergency placement into a supported house is assessed against the same tests as any other claim:
- Is the landlord a housing association, registered charity, voluntary organisation or non-metropolitan county council?
- Does the resident receive care, support or supervision?
- Does the landlord, or someone acting for it, provide it?
- Is it more than minimal?
The difficulty with short stays is evidence. If someone stays for nine nights, there may be little in the file beyond an intake form. Councils can and do refuse exempt status where support was not delivered, so record what happened from the first day: the assessment, the risks found and the support given.
Why councils watch the cost of temporary accommodation
When a council provides temporary accommodation itself, outside its own housing stock, the Housing Benefit subsidy it gets back from the DWP is capped by reference to 90 percent of the Local Housing Allowance rates that applied in January 2011. Rents have risen a long way since then, so councils lose money on many placements. That gap is one reason councils are cautious about high-rent emergency options, and why housing teams and benefits teams sometimes disagree about the same placement.
What good emergency provision looks like
- A clear referral and admission process, written down, with risk information shared before arrival.
- A needs assessment completed quickly, even if the stay is short.
- A named worker for each resident.
- A plan for where the person goes next, agreed with the council.
- Records that would make sense to a council officer who was not there.
Your next step
If you take emergency referrals, write down which council duty each placement is made under and who is paying.
Questions people ask
Is emergency accommodation the same as temporary accommodation?
People use the terms loosely. Emergency accommodation usually means a same-day or short-notice placement. Temporary accommodation is the wider category of housing a council arranges while it decides a homeless application or until it can offer a settled home.
How long can a family stay in bed and breakfast?
The suitability order for England says bed and breakfast is not suitable for families with children or pregnant women unless nothing else is available, and even then for no more than six weeks.
Can a council place someone in exempt accommodation as emergency accommodation?
Councils do this, especially for single people. The placement has to be suitable for the person, and the Housing Benefit claim is still assessed on whether the accommodation meets the exempt tests. Problems arise when the council's housing team and benefits team see the placement differently.
Do night shelters need to be licensed?
Night shelters fall outside most regimes because they are often in community buildings and not lived in as homes. Fire safety and safeguarding duties still apply. Whether they will fall under supported housing licensing depends on the final regulations, but the Act targets supported exempt accommodation, which is claimed for on Housing Benefit.
Sources
Primary legislation and official guidance come first. Where we rely on commentary, we say so.
- 1Housing Act 1996, Part 7 legislation.gov.uk
- 2The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 legislation.gov.uk
- 3Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 legislation.gov.uk
- 4Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities MHCLG
SEA Audit
Want a second pair of eyes on your schemes?
SEA Audit reviews support files, Housing Benefit evidence, safeguarding and property standards against the incoming national standards, then gives you a plain-English action plan.
Read next
All guidesTransitional housing and move-on
How transitional supported housing works, typical lengths of stay, tenancy or licence choices, and a practical move-on plan that starts on the first day.
Updated Oct 2026
Types of supported housing in England
Hostels, shared houses, Housing First, refuges, foyers, supported lodgings and supported living compared: who each is for, length of stay and funding.
Updated Oct 2026
Grey areas in exempt and supported accommodation
The niche questions where the rules are unclear: more than minimal support, acting for the landlord, CICs, lease models, HMOs, planning and licences.
Updated Oct 2026