Standing view · housing · City of London
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Households in temporary accommodation in the City of London rose from 33 in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 40 in the first quarter of 2026, and households in bed and breakfast accommodation to six. In the fourth quarter of 2025, 15 of those households had children and 20 children were in temporary accommodation, while no households were owed a prevention duty; 14 were owed a relief duty in the first quarter of 2026. The average house price was £626,489 in March 2026. Every homelessness measure moved unfavourably.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about City of London. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Children in temporary accommodation | 2025-Q4 | deteriorating |
| Households in temporary accommodation | 2025-Q4 | deteriorating |
| Households in temporary accommodation with children | 2025-Q4 | deteriorating |
| Households in bed and breakfast | 2026-Q1 | deteriorating |
| Households in temporary accommodation | 2026-Q1 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Prevention duty owed | 2025-Q4 | — |
| Relief duty owed | 2026-Q1 | rising |
| Average house price | 2026-03 | — |