Birmingham City Council has passed a motion calling on the government to increase grant funding to help councils and housing associations acquire more properties for use as temporary accommodation.

At a full council meeting yesterday, the cabinet member for housing, Councillor Jayne Francis, presented a motion urging the deputy minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner to create a long-term homelessness strategy “with local councils at its heart”.

Francis said that the council wants “fair funding and investment in alternatives to temporary accommodation, and especially the usage of bed and breakfasts”.