Authority Hub · Emergency Accommodation
The UK authority on emergency accommodation.
Displacement doesn't wait. Neither do we.
Quick answer
Emergency accommodation is rapid interim housing for people displaced by fire, flood, escape of water or unsafe conditions. Jigsaw Conferences sources vetted hotels and serviced apartments across the UK 24/7 for housing providers, insurers and local authorities — placements matched to household needs, consolidated onto one auditable invoice, free to the client.
Jigsaw Conferences provides UK-wide emergency accommodation services for housing providers, insurers, local authorities and organisations requiring rapid temporary accommodation solutions.
Written by Katie Richardson, Operations Director · Public Sector Procurement Specialist Last reviewed June 2026
What emergency accommodation covers
Emergency accommodation is temporary housing arranged at short notice for people displaced from their permanent home. Common triggers include fires, floods, escape-of-water incidents, gas leaks, cladding remediation, structural failure, criminal damage and safeguarding-driven relocations.
Jigsaw acts as the placement layer between the incident holder — an insurer, housing association, local authority, contractor or corporate client — and the vetted supply of hotels, serviced apartments and self-catering properties across the UK. Every placement is matched against the household's genuine suitability requirements, not just the nearest available room.
What matters here
Households, not bedspaces
Every placement is scored against household composition, accessibility, cultural fit, distance from schools and work, and safeguarding needs.
Insurer and public-sector fluent
We speak the language of loss adjusters, insurers, housing officers and homelessness teams — no translation cost on the buyer side.
Governance-ready reporting
Every placement is auditable. Board-ready dashboards, statutory-return-friendly datasets, safeguarding trail.
One partner, UK-wide
Placements sourced across 53+ UK cities against 25,000+ verified venues and properties.
Free to the client
Zero booking fees. Our commission is paid by the venue or operator.
Escalation-first process
Complex cases get a named account owner. Volume cases get a workflow. Both get the same standard of care.
How a placement moves from enquiry to occupancy
- 1
Brief
You send us the incident details — insurer or authority reference, household composition, accessibility, location constraints, target duration.
- 2
Match
We match against the vetted UK network using the Jigsaw suitability model — accessibility, safeguarding, family composition, distance from schools, community ties.
- 3
Confirm
You get a shortlist with prices, terms and photos. We hold the room until you confirm.
- 4
Handover
Meet-and-greet, keys, welfare check-in. Resident support handled by our account team, not by the property.
- 5
Extend or resolve
We track expected release dates and manage extensions, re-placements or return-to-property logistics.
Which placement route fits your incident?
The right first move depends on the household, the timeline and the scale of the incident. Use this to orient — then call and we handle it.
If
A household is displaced tonight and needs a roof within hours
Then
Hotel placement first — it is the fastest compliant route. We hold the room while you confirm, then reassess accommodation type once the repair timeline is known.
Emergency accommodation (24/7)If
The repair or reinstatement will run beyond 7 nights
Then
Move to a serviced apartment. Cooking and laundry transform whole-stay economics and household wellbeing on longer displacements.
Hotel vs apartment comparisonIf
A block-level incident has displaced 10+ households at once
Then
Treat it as a programme, not a batch of bookings: block-booked capacity, a named programme owner, wave-based placements and consolidated reporting.
Housing decants playbookIf
The household has accessibility, pet or safeguarding requirements
Then
Escalate to a named account owner before anything is booked. Suitability requirements are captured first, then only matching stock is shortlisted.
Resident suitability frameworkHotel vs serviced apartment vs self-catering for displacement stays
| Hotel | Serviced apartment | Self-catering house | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to place | Fastest — often same-day | Usually 24–72 hours | Days — subject to local stock |
| Best stay length | First 1–7 nights | 1 week to 18 months | Multi-month family decants |
| Cooking & laundry | Rarely in-room | Full kitchen and laundry | Full kitchen, laundry, garden |
| Family suitability | Limited for larger households | Strong — separate bedrooms, living space | Strongest for large or multi-generational households |
| Cost pattern | High nightly rate + meal costs | Lower whole-stay cost beyond ~7 nights | Competitive on long stays, less flexible |
| Typical use | Night-one response | Works period accommodation | Long remediation programmes |
Evaluate on whole-stay economics (nights × rate + meals + re-placement risk + admin), never on the nightly rate alone.
Procurement guidance
Procuring emergency accommodation before the emergency
The statutory 24-hour emergency deadline under Awaab’s Law does not pause for procurement. Buy the capability in advance and test it before you need it.
- Pre-contract a 24/7 provider with evidenced placement times — voicemail is not an emergency line.
- Define response-time SLAs in the contract: instruction to first option, and instruction to placement.
- Require both hotel AND serviced apartment supply in every area you operate.
- Evaluate on whole-stay cost scenarios, and require one consolidated invoice per case coded to your references.
Proof, not promises
Downloads
Working documents for your team — everything in them is also published in full as HTML on this site.
Frequently asked questions
Who typically triggers an emergency placement?
Do you serve statutory homelessness placements?
How is suitability assessed?
What does emergency accommodation cost?
Related knowledge
Official legislation & guidance
Brief us once. We handle every detail.
Trusted by housing associations, insurers, local authorities, NHS organisations, pharmaceutical companies, corporate organisations and event professionals across the UK.