Making temporary accommodation permanent: the cost for homeless families

This article draws on research into the experiences of London home less families placed in accommodation leased by their local housing authority from the private sector (PSL) while awaiting rehousing. It reveals the financial and social costs to families of government moves towards a blurring of the distinction between temporary and perma nent local authority rehousing duties — costs that are unaccounted for in assessing the public cost of homelessness, and which are more liable to fall on particular social groups of families than others.