FOI release

Use of hotels for temporary accommodation

Case reference FOI2025/00746

Received 20 August 2025

Published 26 August 2025

Request

I would like to ask for information about the use of hotel accommodation by the local authority for individuals you have a statutory or other duty to accommodate. Please do not include the use of hotels for department business or staff in any capacity, for example work travel or conferences etc. Please provide, broken down by month between January 2019 (or as far back as you can go up to that point) and the latest available month: * The number of individuals * The number of hotel sites used (for example, individual hotels that are part of a chain, independent hotels, B&Bs etc) * Total amount spent * Please also provide a broad description of the different groups of people accommodated in hotels and the reasons for using hotels If the data is only available as households, please provide this and state clearly that this is what has been provided. If the data is not available by individual month, please provide it by financial year (1 April to 31 March) starting from 2019-20.

Response

Please provide, broken down by month between January 2019 (or as far back as you can go up to that point) and the latest available month: * The number of individuals

2019/20 - data unavailable

2020/21 - data unavailable

2021/22 - 50 households provided with temporary accommodation categorised as 'privately managed bed & breakfast hotels'

2022/23 - 90 households provided with temporary accommodation categorised as 'privately managed bed & breakfast hotels'

2023/24 - 120 households provided with temporary accommodation categorised as 'privately managed bed & breakfast hotels'

2024/25 - 45 households provided with temporary accommodation categorised as 'privately managed bed & breakfast hotels'

* The number of hotel sites used (for example, individual hotels that are part of a chain, independent hotels, B&Bs etc)

2019/20 - data unavailable

2020/21 - data unavailable

2021/22 - 11 individual hotels

2022/23 - 13 individual hotels

2023/24 - 18 individual hotels

2024/25 - 6 individual hotels

* Total amount spent

2019/20 - £482,705

2020/21- £1,059,904

2021/22 - £567,389

2022/23 - £97,501

2023/24 - £259,756

2024/25 - £241,746

* Please also provide a broad description of the different groups of people accommodated in hotels and the reasons for using hotels

Hotel type accommodation used for various individuals including (but not limited to):

  • Those not safe in the borough

  • Those with exclusion zones preventing them from living in the borough

  • Those with offending history

  • Those with specific accommodation requirement (e.g. level access)

If the data is only available as households, please provide this and state clearly that this is what has been provided.

 

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.