Homeless Wolverhampton council tenants put up in B&Bs 196 times in one year

There were 196 cases of tenants being placed at B&Bs from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015.

A total of 50 of these cases were repeat stays, with many of them having to stop in the B&Bs for up to a 12-month period.

The amount of money spent on providing B&Bs for people in the city was £96,350.41.

In total, the council had a staggering 7,880 people on the waiting list for housing in the city from January to December 2015 and 401 people were placed in temporary accommodation, not including a B&B.

The figures were revealed following an Freedom of Information request made by the Express & Star.

On average, the number of nights spent in B&Bs for the 196 people was 12.64 nights, or 1.8 weeks.

The average amount of time spent in temporary accommodation for those 401 people was 54.78 nights or 7.82 weeks.

Of these 196 cases, 63 were then transferred to the council's temporary accommodation scheme, therefore extending the amount of time they were without a permanent address.

The areas in which these people were houses ranged from WV1 postcodes - close to the city centre - to the WS1 postcode, in nearby Walsall.

A spokesperson from Wolverhampton council said: "The council only uses bed and breakfasts as a last resort, when there's no council owned temporary accommodation available.

"Clearly our absolute priority is the immediate safety and security of people who need our help to secure more permanent homes for themselves and their families.

"We work closely with them to assist their immediate and longer term needs and our officers do everything they can to minimise the time they spend in temporary accommodation and to find sustainable solutions."

The news follows recent data released by Walsall council which showed that there are 8,644 people on their waiting list for housing.

Walsall Housing Group has been criticised for selling off more than 350 properties since 2013 under the government's Right To Buy scheme.