A group of local authorities is asking the government to give individual councils the cash to buy properties off private landlords.
London Councils - an umbrella group of local authorities in the capital - says the government should build on initiatives such as the Local Authority Housing Fund by providing increased capital investment for housing acquisitions, particularly homes being sold by private landlords as they exit the market.
It says this would directly help manage the capital’s growing homelessness problem.
Recent research commissioned by London Councils shows a 41 per cent fall in the number of homes available for long term renting in London since the pandemic.
The study, undertaken by Savills and the London School of Economics, also found that only 2.3 per cent of London listings on Rightmove in 2022-23 were affordable to low-income households using Local Housing Allowance to pay their rent.
London Councils points to the reduction in the supply of private rental housing as a major factor behind the capital’s fast-rising homelessness pressures – including boroughs’ difficulty in securing temporary accommodation for homeless families.
Combined with the cost-of-living crisis and longstanding shortage of affordable homes, borough councils describe the housing situation as disastrous.
London has the highest homelessness figures in the country, accounting for more than half the overall number of households in England living in temporary accommodation.
A spokesperson for London Councils says: “This is the latest evidence of the homelessness disaster unfolding in the capital. One in 50 Londoners homeless and living in temporary accommodation is an appalling statistic.
“We are especially concerned by the skyrocketing numbers of families stuck in B&Bs. Nobody wants this happening and boroughs do everything we can to support homeless families into suitable accommodation.
“However, more and more often boroughs face a total lack of other options for keeping a roof over these families’ heads.
“Homelessness pressures across the capital are fast becoming unmanageable. Ministers need to treat this as the emergency it clearly is. Much more action is needed to help low-income households avoid homelessness and to reverse the rising numbers relying on temporary accommodation.”
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