Council leader asks residents to offer spare rooms

Hastings has faced sharp rise in homelessness

A council leader has called on residents to offer up their spare rooms or space in their gardens for prefab housing amid a local housing crisis.

Hastings Borough Council leader Paul Barnett made the call, citing an "enormous rise" in homelessness in the town.

In July, the council warned it may have to issue a Section 114 notice, effectively declaring itself bankrupt as it grappled with a rise in temporary housing costs.

On Monday, the council approved plans to sell some of its assets in a bid to improve its financial position.

Speaking to BBC South East, Labour councillor Barnett blamed the housing crisis in Hastings on a combination of austerity, changes to local government, the housing market and the cost of living.

He said: "We now have over 1,000 people in temporary accommodation. We just can't afford to sustain that.

"We need individual residents who might have a spare room in their homes - like people offered rooms for Ukraine - to think about offering that to somebody who needs a short-term home.

"They may have room at the bottom of their garden for a prefab unit which would be a fantastic way of increasing the amount of stock available."

Plans were approved to sell the Grade II listed 12/13 York Buildings in Wellington Place, Hastings

At a meeting on Monday, plans were approved to sell four council assets in a bid to bring in about £3m.

The council said the proceeds would be reinvested into funding its capital programme and cut external borrowing.

Councillor Maya Evans said: "You never dispose of assets, that is almost rule number one when you are saving and trying to create a profit. But we have to.

"We are in a housing crisis, we are in a cost of living crisis, we are in a climate emergency. We have to start taking radical action now in order to not go bankrupt."

The assets being sold include a farm in Rother, a mixed retail and residential building in Hastings, and two pieces of land in Hastings and Hollington in nearby St Leonards.