Homeless families to be placed beyond Home Counties

Tower Hamlets Council has changed its policy for temporary accomodation

An east London council will be able to place homeless families in temporary accommodation beyond the Home Counties, after removing a 90-minute journey time limit.

Tower Hamlets Council revised its Homelessness Accommodation Placement Policy in July, and the decision was reaffirmed at a meeting on Monday.

The move was called in by several opposition councillors, who called it a "terrible policy" which did not recognise the impact on vulnerable families.

Kabir Ahmed, cabinet member for regeneration, inclusive development and housebuilding, said the council would look to house people in Tower Hamlets first and then "move outwards".

Homeless children

Under the revised policy, the council has created zones A to D.

A cabinet report at the time said the zones would allow the council to have “greater control” and transparency when finding accommodation for families.

Zone A will be within the borough of Tower Hamlets, Zone B will be within Greater London, while Zone C will see families placed in the Home Counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Zone D will place homeless families in accommodation beyond the Home Counties, more than a 90-minute journey away.

The council said families would be allocated zoned accommodation depending on the age of their children.

Those in their final year of GCSEs or A-Levels would be placed in temporary accommodation within the borough.

Children in other year groups could be placed anywhere in London.

And families with very young children not yet in school could be placed anywhere in the Home Counties.

Families 'in fear'

Bow East councillor Marc Francis called it a "terrible policy" during the overview and scrutiny meeting on Monday.

Mr Francis, one of several Labour Party councillors behind the call-in, said many families come to them "in fear of what this might mean".

“The measure to send vulnerable homeless families even further away from Tower Hamlets is premature, unnecessary and doesn’t take proper account of the impact on those families," he said.

But Mr Ahmed said it was "not always possible" to place families in or close to the borough "due to affordability and availability".

“This does not mean every single resident that comes through these doors as homeless will be placed outside of London," he said.

"It means we will start in Tower Hamlets and then we will move outwards from Tower Hamlets.

“We also need to keep the option open for good quality homes.”

He added: “There are a lot of people who would choose a better quality home outside in a suburban area as opposed to within Tower Hamlets.

"If they want it voluntarily we should give them that opportunity.”

However, he could not say "definitively" how far the council planned to go beyond its borough.

The revised policy was voted to stay as it was, with Labour and Green councillors outnumbered by councillors from the ruling party Aspire.