The Welsh Government’s monthly rough sleeping and temporary accommodation (TA) data release for October 2025 offers us a welcome opportunity to delve into what the data illustrates and identify key local and regional trends.

Whilst differing legislation and data collection methods can make it difficult to make direct comparisons between Wales and the other UK nations, at the Centre for Homelessness Impact we have pulled out a few key findings from the most recent release and highlighted where there may be further opportunities for the use of data to prevent homelessness or ensure it is rare, brief and non-recurring.

In October 2025 there were:

• 157 people who were recorded to be experiencing rough sleeping in Wales. This number has remained stubbornly high across the data, which goes back to 2023. However, it’s important to note that the recorded number is in all likelihood an underestimate.
• As expected purely based on population sizes, Cardiff has the highest recorded number of people experiencing rough sleeping (36 people). 
• 10,818 people are living in temporary accommodation across Wales, 2,503 of whom are children. 
• 2,596 people (24% of TA placements) are in Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) and hotels, with 2,528 people living temporarily in local councils own housing stock, (23% of TA placements). This represents a slight decrease in the proportion of placements into B&Bs and hotels compared to other forms of accommodation from 2023.
• 1,287 occurrences of people being placed into TA, relatively unchanged from previous months. In contrast, there were 773 people who were successfully moved into suitable long term accommodation by the council. Others will have left TA of their own accord. 

Temporary Accommodation:

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The monthly statistics highlight the significant disparity between the number of people entering TA and the number moving into long-term housing. With fewer people moving into long-term accommodation each month, there is a risk that people are being placed in TA which may not be meeting their needs for significant periods of time.

Therefore, reducing demand for TA is an urgent priority for cash-strapped councils who are paying considerable sums housing people who are eligible for housing support. Audit Wales’s 2025 report outlined that Welsh councils in 2023-24 spent nearly £172 million on TA, rising from £28 million in 2019. This reflects the severe financial challenges faced by Welsh local authorities.

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While the number of people in B&B and hotel accommodation is slowly declining, it still remains the most common (and most costly) type of TA in Wales. Additionally, B&Bs are commonly regarded as among the most ill-suited to meet peoples’ needs (particularly for families with children). It remains a concern to see such high numbers in Wales.

A significant number of people in Wales end up back in TA within 12 months of leaving it. For example, in October 2025, just over 15% of placements into TA were of people who had previously been placed into TA within the last 12 months.

However, different vulnerabilities change the likelihood that someone will re-enter temporary accommodation after leaving it. Looking at the most recent release, it can be seen that 30% of people who were placed into temporary accommodation after leaving prison in October had previously been placed in it in the past year. This data offers us the opportunity to dig a little deeper to understand how people might be caught in a cycle of homelessness and where particular interventions might be useful to break that cycle. 

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This highlights both the complexity of needs of those at risk of experiencing homelessness, and also the valuable opportunities from using data to support people who are most likely to experience homelessness following discharge from different institutions. Wales’s incoming Homelessness and Social Housing Allocations (Wales) Bill is going to give certain public bodies responsibilities for addressing homelessness, but this will only be effective if the positive legislation is matched by successfully implementing the new law, backing it up with robust data systems and ensuring ongoing learning from the new structure. 

These latest figures both underline the scale of the challenge and can unlock opportunities to take action in Wales. By delving into the data, we can understand the detail of the problem so that it can be better prevented - reducing both associated harms and the spiralling costs. Upstream prevention, faster routes into sustainable long-term housing, and targeted support for groups at greatest risk of repeat homelessness emerge as clear priorities if we are to truly move from managing a crisis to preventing the damage that homelessness causes in too many people's lives. 

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• Alice Gilderdale is Implementation Lead at the Centre for Homelessness Impact

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