Local councils are increasingly failing to provide affordable accommodation to homeless families, recent figures quoted by broadcaster NOS have shown.

In The Hague, 860 families required assistance in finding a home last year, compared to half that number the year before.

“We see more economically homeless families, that is, families who are not in debt but who just can’t find an affordable house,” The Hague poverty chief Mariëlle Vavier told the broadcaster.

Some 225 families were provided with emergency accommodation, while the rest were housed in hotels, at a cost of around €8 million. The hotel accommodation will set the council back some €10 million in 2025. “The adage is: no child on the street,” Vavier said. “We will always explore ways to offer shelter to children,” she said.

In Utrecht, some 18 homeless families will have to wait between three and six months before they can be housed, while in Rotterdam, the situation is more serious, with 634 homeless families to 228 available places.

Amsterdam, too, is housing families in hotel rooms. “People are in more precarious circumstances and there is a huge lack of affordable housing,” a council spokesman told NOS. The number of homeless people in the capital is estimated at around 1,500.

Families do what they can to find a roof over their heads, Vavier said. Single mothers come to us when they have exhausted all other avenues. They stay with friends and family, or in a caravan. Others stay in unhealthy relationships because there is nowhere for them to go,” she said.

Homeless people have a right to accommodation, but do not automatically qualify for a house. Last month, MPs backed a proposition from ChristenUnie to prioritise homeless families when allocating social housing.