4 days ago
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Neurodivergent children living in temporary accommodation (TA) in England are subjected to conditions that amount to “torture”, and the harm it causes them is “psychologically excruciating” and a form of “child cruelty”, a report has found.
The report by King’s College London through the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for households in temporary accommodation, found that while living in TA was damaging for any child, it had a particularly severe impact on neurodivergent children and those with special education needs and disabilities (Send).
It found that, for neurodivergent children, TA was “relentless and cruel” and that “continuing to house them in such conditions – despite evidence of the damage it causes – can be considered as a form of torture and child cruelty”.
Parents told researchers their neurodivergent children had become withdrawn or hypervigilant because of “chronic uncertainty, restricted space, lack of outdoor access, unsafe environments and the removal of familiar supports”.
“The pace and frequency of moves between different TA spaces is overwhelming for neurodivergent children, resulting in a semi-permanent state of meltdown,” the report says.
Between April and June 2025 in England there were 172,420 children living in TA, short-term housing provided by local councils for people experiencing homelessness, which can include hotels, hostels, B&Bs or private rentals.
The number of people in TA has soared in recent years as the housing crisis and cost of living has pushed more families into precarious living situations.
Although designed to be short-term, many people report living in TA for years – the report said the respondents in their call for evidence stayed in it for an average of 4.5 years.
Prof Philip Alston, the former UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said in a foreword the report was “groundbreaking because it forces us to confront a neglected dimension of child rights”.
He said neurodivergent children had been “largely absent from global and national discourse” and the report “expands the human rights lens beyond traditional definitions of harm to include sensory environments which can inflict deep suffering”.
Agatha Phiri spent a year living in temporary accommodation in Oldham with her nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who has ADHD and suspected autism, after they became homeless upon leaving the asylum system.
“She says noise makes her body feel pain and triggers her a lot. We had to experience that every single day for a whole year in that temporary accommodation,” Phiri said.
They lived in a tiny room in a shared accommodation block, with just a kettle and microwave. At night, other residents, often those with drug or alcohol issues, would bang on their door and windows trying to get in, or police would turn up with sirens blaring.
For Elizabeth, the constant level of noise had a catastrophic effect – although the pair now live in a permanent home, she has severe anxiety and cannot go on public transport or interact with others.
“She wasn’t like that before we lived there,” said Phiri. “We would be sleeping and the next thing we hear is bang, bang, bang on the door from the police shouting open up. I’d think: ‘Oh my God, what have we done?’ If it wasn’t the police, it was people who were drunk and lost, who’d forgotten their room number.
“We’d just hold each other’s hands in the middle of the night. This is a child who’s going to school early in the morning, and we are up 3am, and she can’t go back to sleep because she’s scared.”
Neurodivergent children commonly rely on routine, predictability and safe environments, but TA often involves being moved at short notice, with disruption to schooling, therapy and support networks.
This can “place the child in a state of emotional deprivation that can become psychologically excruciating, not unlike solitary stressors used in coercive environments”, the report says.
Phiri said: “My daughter needs a routine. But it was messed up, we couldn’t even get homework done because of the chaos.”
Cramped space was also a major issue – Phiri said her daughter celebrated birthdays on the bed, and had no place to play. Guests were not permitted, and they were far from Elizabeth’s school and support networks.
“We were not allowed anyone at all. It was just her and me,” said Phiri. “To be honest, it’s not a life I would want anyone to live, including those who have children with no medical needs. I wouldn’t want anyone with a child to experience that kind of life. It’s horrible. Very horrible.”
Siobhain McDonagh, MP and chair of the APPG for households in temporary accommodation, said the report showed the “horrifying reality for the children at the sharp end of this crisis”.
“It is morally unjustifiable that these children are forced to endure conditions tantamount to prison,” she said.
The report recommends incorporating the UN convention on the rights of the child into UK law, which would force policymakers to consider children’s rights when making housing and homelessness decisions.
It says restrictive visitor rules in TA that ban visitors are punitive and should be changed to allow respite and support for parents of neurodivergent children, and they should also not be placed in mixed accommodation with shared facilities, moved out of area or repeatedly moved.
