Wales maintains peak levels of households in temporary accommodation as Senedd votes unanimously to pass new homelessness law.
In February 2026, the Senedd passed the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill, marking a shift toward early intervention and long-term residential stability. Following this legislative milestone, the latest statistical release from StatsWales confirmed that the volume of households in temporary accommodation remains at a peak.
Polimapper has visualised these figures against the new Senedd constituency boundaries to identify pressure points for incoming MSs, ahead of the implementation of the bill.
In this visualisation, we have mapped homelessness figures at the Senedd constituency level, by allocating local authorities to the respective constituencies in which they fall. In case of an overlap, the datapoint has been assigned to the largest overlap. Launch visualisation. Source: StatsWales
The official figures show there were 6,426 households residing in temporary accommodation as of 30 September 2025. This represents a marginal change from the peak of 6,495 households recorded during the same period in 2024.
The previous year marked the highest volume of temporary housing occupancy since the implementation of the Housing (Wales) Act in 2015, with nearly a quarter of these households including families with children.
However, the volume of statutory interventions under the prevention and relief duties has declined. Between April and September 2025, local authorities recorded 3,645 outcomes for households threatened with homelessness within 56 days. This represents a year-on-year 10% reduction.
During this same period, 5,556 outcomes were logged for households already experiencing homelessness and owed a duty to secure accommodation. This is a 14% decline from the 6,477 outcomes reported in 2024. Additionally, 3,102 outcomes were identified for households classified as unintentionally homeless and in priority need.
The localised picture of homelessness in Wales
Poliampper’s data analysis shows variations across Senedd boundaries. Casnewydd Islwyn consistently records the most acute pressure points, showing the highest rate of households in temporary accommodation at 368 per 100,000 people.
In contrast, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr recorded the lowest rate in this category at 54 per 100,000 people. This trend continues across statutory duties, with Casnewydd Islwyn recording the highest rate of households threatened with homelessness at 211 per 100,000, while Gwynedd Maldwyn saw the lowest rate at 25 per 100,000.
In terms of homelessness relief, the highest rate of households owed a duty to secure accommodation was observed in Bangor Conwy Mon at 259 per 100,000 people.
Geodata context
The official figures show there were 6,426 households residing in temporary accommodation as of 30 September 2025. This represents a marginal change from the 6,495 households recorded during the same period in 2024.
Key elements of the Bill include a mandatory multi-agency response designed to bring Welsh public services together.
In response to the vote, Crisis welcomed the Bill as a significant step while noting that the focus must now shift to practical implementation. Debbie Thomas, head of policy and communications Wales at Crisis, wrote that the next Welsh Government must ensure the law is fully resourced and funded following the Senedd election this May.
The constituency-level data provided by Polimapper will remain a critical baseline for measuring the success of these new preventative measures. This ensures that guidance on the new law is effective and addresses specific areas of need across the diverse geography of Wales.
