Confirmed cases of unregistered children’s homes rose by more than 372% between 2020/21 and 2024/25: report

According to policy analysts at Public First, who conducted research for charity Commonweal Housing, the full extent of the problem is “poorly understood” due to underreporting.

For example, on a single day, the Children’s Commissioner found 669 children in unregistered placements across 153 local authorities - close to Ofsted’s confirmed total for the whole previous year, the report said.

Authors warned: “Systematic data has only been collected since 2020/21, so nobody can say whether today’s levels are a new spike or simply the first clear view of a long-standing pattern.”

Unregistered children’s homes are settings providing care and accommodation to children without required Ofsted registration.

In some cases, the report found examples of children being placed in Airbnbs, holiday lets, budget hotels or serviced apartments, supervised by “untested agency staff who may have minimal training in children’s care, trauma, exploitation or de-escalation”.

The report warned: “These arrangements are usually described as short term - something to get through the weekend or the next few weeks - but many last far longer: on average around six months, with some close to a year.”

The report concluded with the following recommendations for government:

• Introduce a statutory requirement for Directors of Children’s Services to submit a written justification to Ofsted whenever they authorise an unregistered placement;
• Improve national data collection on unregistered placements, using shared datasets between Ofsted and local authorities;
• Enable Ofsted to recognise relevant CQC-registered placements to avoid duplicative regulation;
• Amend Regulation 44 processes to remove perverse incentives that discourage placements from accepting high-needs children;
• Strengthen the role of Regional Care Cooperatives in commissioning high-cost, low-frequency placements;
• Issue national guidance to local authorities encouraging them to assess the advantages and disadvantages of sequential sourcing where children have complex needs or urgent timelines;
• Explore partnerships with housing associations to increase safe, emergency accommodation capacity.

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson