Luton Council plans 400 new homes a year to tackle homelessness

Research by Shelter said one in 66 people in Luton were homeless

A town found to have the highest homelessness rate outside London is aiming to build more than 400 new homes a year for five years.

A report by Shelter in December said one in 66 people in Luton were homeless, compared to one in 53 in the capital.

A housing plan by Luton Council proposes at least 425 new properties and 85 affordable homes a year.

The Labour-run council also aims to wipe out rough sleeping in the town.

The council's executive committee has unanimously approved a draft Luton Housing Strategy from 2022 to 2027, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"Our corporate work on minimum income standards shows that housing costs are a significant driver of poverty in Luton, as well as impacting on health and wellbeing," a report to the committee said.

"Good housing is crucial to achieving wider ambitions for Luton."

As well as new properties and affordable homes, the draft strategy said that by 2027, the council aimed to make a "bold intervention in the local rental market to make homes available at lower cost".

It also wants to improve housing services and make "significant reductions" in the use of temporary accommodation - to under 500 households and for there to be "no rough sleeping".

Liberal Democrat councillor David Franks said the overview and scrutiny board had supported the report and recommended the executive looked at schemes to limit the number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in any street or neighbourhood.

Presenting the report, Labour councillor Tom Shaw, who is responsible for housing, said the report was "very ambitious" and agreed that the council had "to do something about HMOs... especially where roads are getting full".

"The recommendation [of where they should be limited] will come through housing, although it will have to be from development control which imposes the orders in those areas," he said.

The draft plan will now go out to public consultation.