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London councils place homeless households more than 200 miles away
Councils across England are placing increasing numbers of homeless households in temporary accommodation outside of their areas, in some cases more than 200 miles away, analysis has found.
More than one in four households living in temporary accommodation are now being moved to other areas, the analysis revealed.
Around 55,000 people at any one time are living in out-of-area temporary accommodation provided by London local authorities.
The analysis was carried out by the London Labour Housing Group and is based on Freedom of Information Act requests and publicly available data.
Barnet and Bexley councils have housed homeless people as far away as Manchester, while Barking & Dagenham Council has placed households in Bradford – both cities are around 200 miles away from the capital.
Last summer, Merton Council was censured by the Local Government Ombudsman after a man the local authority had placed in temporary accommodation in Birmingham was forced to quit his job due to the three-hour commute.
The use of out-of-area temporary accommodation by local authorities in the rest of England is also becoming more prevalent.
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When the coalition government came to power in 2010, around 10% of households in temporary accommodation across the country were placed out of their area.
By 2020, that percentage had increased to around 27%, alongside a well-documented surge overall in temporary accommodation use.
Between 2015/16 and 2020/21, the proportion of out-of-area temporary accommodation placements by London councils as a percentage of the nationwide total shrank from 92% to 84%.
The number of out-of-area placements across England is now 161% higher than when overall temporary accommodation use peaked in 2004.
London’s Labour Housing Group said that at the current rate of increase, a third of all out-of-area placements will be by non-London councils within a decade.
The group is calling for the government to increase Local Housing Allowance rates, which dictate how much benefit private renters can claim to help with their housing costs, and to give councils more funding to tackle homelessness.
Jack Shaw, author of the research, said: “This is a perfect storm. Cuts to housing benefit and local authority budgets, as well as the failure to build the homes needed, are forcing councils to rehome families elsewhere.
“At the same time, there is real concern about the well-being of placing families – as many as a third of them vulnerable – up to hundreds of miles from their support networks, doctors and children’s schools.
“The government urgently needs to act to protect families by properly funding homelessness provision in London and increasing the Local Housing Allowance.
“Out-of-area temporary accommodation has already been dubbed by homeless households as social cleansing by stealth. This could be the next cladding scandal waiting to happen if the government doesn’t act.”
Legislation requires councils to house people within their home area as far as is reasonably practicable.
Spending on temporary accommodation services across England is estimated to be nearly £1bn a year, with around £200m falling on local authority general funds and the rest paid for by housing benefit.
The government has made £750m in funding available this year to try to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
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