A 2026 report from the parliamentary group for households in temporary accommodation draws on child-death review data to examine the circumstances of families without settled housing.
The reviewed cases
The report states that, between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2025, temporary accommodation was identified as contributing to vulnerability, ill-health or death in 104 child deaths in England. Of these children, 76 were under one.
That wording is important. It describes a contributory factor identified in reviews; it is not a finding that the accommodation was the sole cause in every case.
A separate measure
The report also records 140 deaths between October 2023 and September 2025 involving children whose usual residence was temporary accommodation. Those residence figures cover a different period and do not establish that housing contributed to every death. They must not simply be added to the 104 reviewed cases.
For housing services, the findings reinforce the importance of understanding families’ circumstances and continuity of support. This article reports the published evidence without reproducing bereaved families’ personal accounts or making a diagnosis about an individual case. The figures warrant careful interpretation as well as attention; overstating causation would obscure what the review data actually establish.