1,142 Sutton households were in temporary accommodation in June, 590 in emergency places. Councillors see the figures on Tuesday, with re-lets over target.

There were 1,142 Sutton households in temporary accommodation in June, including 590 households in emergency accommodation.

The figures are in a performance report going to the council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee on Tuesday 15 September. The meeting starts at 7pm at the Civic Offices on St Nicholas Way, and it is open to the public.

The report was signed on 2 September by Spencer Palmer, Strategic Director for Environment, Housing and Neighbourhoods. It records a performance session councillors held on 20 July. Most of the data runs from January to June 2026. The figures for Sutton Housing Partnership, which manages the council’s homes, are the annual return for 2025/26.

Temporary accommodation

The council says the numbers have held steady rather than risen. Its own 24 month series bears that out: the total has moved between roughly 1,111 and 1,160 households since mid 2025.

What the report records:

  • 1,142 households in temporary accommodation in June 2026
  • 590 of those in emergency accommodation
  • 103 first time placements into emergency accommodation so far this financial year
  • around 30 new placements a month, about a fifth of everyone who approaches the council
  • about 190 households helped to find their own private tenancy under the “Find your own” scheme, which the council says kept them out of emergency accommodation

Officers attribute the stability to prevention work, moves into social housing and greater use of the private rented sector. They are blunt about the pressure point. A “significant shortage of family-sized accommodation persists, particularly within the borough and neighbouring authorities”, the report says, and the problem is “not unique to Sutton”.

One number is well ahead of target. The council collected 98.30% of collectable income from housing benefit claimants in emergency accommodation, against an 84% target. Councillors are told that reduces the risk of the council ending its housing duty to a household over rent arrears.

The report also says Sutton has avoided using bed and breakfast or hotels for emergency accommodation.

Council tenants: what improved

Sutton Housing Partnership’s annual figures for 2025/26 are the strongest part of the report.

Sutton Housing Partnership performance 2025/26 against target: overall tenant satisfaction 74.6 per cent, satisfaction that the home is well maintained 74.5 per cent, home safety 82 per cent, anti-social behaviour cases down from 42 to 19 per 1,000 homes, average re-let time 36.3 days against a 28 day target, rent arrears 6.30 per cent against a 4.50 per cent target

  • Overall tenant satisfaction: 74.6%, up 4.7 points, which the report says keeps the organisation in the top quartile of London boroughs
  • satisfaction that tenants are treated fairly and with respect: 79.3%, up 5.7 points
  • satisfaction that SHP listens and acts: 63.3%
  • satisfaction that the home is well maintained: 74.5%
  • satisfaction with home safety: 82%, up 8.4 points
  • 100% compliance on gas safety records, fire risk assessments, asbestos surveys, legionella assessments and communal lift checks
  • anti-social behaviour cases opened fell from 42 to 19 per 1,000 homes, with satisfaction in how they were handled at 66.3%

Council tenants: what missed

Three measures are rated red or amber, and all three are things tenants feel directly.

Complaints are up sharply. Stage 1 complaints rose to 55.9 per 1,000 homes, from 20 per 1,000 the year before. Stage 2 complaints rose to 12.57 per 1,000, from 3.83. The report attributes the rise to a new Complaints Resolution Policy that makes it easier to complain, rather than to worse service.

Response times fell with the volume. The covering report puts Stage 1 complaints answered on time at 45% and Stage 2 at 47.60%, both rated red against the Housing Ombudsman’s 10 and 20 working day deadlines. Satisfaction with how complaints are handled finished the year at 34.8%, the lowest score in the whole report, though that is up 4.1 points.

Empty homes are taking longer to re-let, and the council’s own papers disagree about by how much. The covering report says the average re-let time “rose to 48.41 days” against a 28 day target. The detailed appendix records a year-end average of 36.3 days, with 48.4 days reached in a single month and Q4 running at 30.5 days. Either way it is over target, and the reason given is a backlog that built up over Christmas. Re-let times were 27 days in 2024/25.

Rent arrears rose to 6.30% of the annual rent roll against a 4.50% target. Two new floating housing managers have been appointed, and the law firm Birketts has been engaged on a trial basis to run court cases online.

New homes

Nine affordable homes were delivered in 2025/26, all of them in Beddington.

The 92 home Beech Tree Place scheme has since been completed, with an opening event in July, and the report says previous and new residents will start to move in this year.

Across all tenures, 329 net additional dwellings were completed in the borough in 2024-25, below the target of 469 a year. The 2025-26 count was still being collected when the report was written.

Right to Buy is slowing. The council received four new applications between April and June 2026, which it attributes to the smaller discounts introduced in the autumn 2024 Budget. There are 22 live applications, six of them in their final legal stages.

What it means for you

If you rent from the council, the complaints figures are the ones to watch. A Stage 1 complaint should get a reply within 10 working days and a Stage 2 within 20, under the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. Fewer than half currently do. If yours is late, the Ombudsman’s code is the standard to hold the landlord to.

If you want to raise any of this in person, Tuesday’s meeting is public. Papers, and the contact for questions, are on the council’s agenda page. The committee services team can be reached on 020 8770 4990 or at committee.services@sutton.gov.uk.

For the practical council information most people need, see our pages on council tax bands, bin collection days and planning applications.

Sources