Ealing Council to buy up housing to combat homelessness in borough

Councillors were told the plans could help reduce the council's current £5m overspend on temporary accomodation

Ealing Council has agreed to a £150m plan to buy up housing to help combat levels of homelessness in the borough.

Councillors were told the plans would increase housing stock and be more cost-effective than temporary accommodation.

Cabinet members heard overspend on this kind of housing could reach £5m if action was not taken.

The council will also establish a housing resettlement team to help people find new homes.

Councillor Shital Manro told a meeting of the council's cabinet the number of homeless people was threatening to overwhelm the authority's budget if swift and decisive action was not taken.

He said: "The cost of homelessness is massive, for instance, using hotel rooms costs us £4,000 a month plus, that's £50,000 a year, and we are currently using 169."

The west London council is also currently using 389 B&Bs as temporary housing, costing £1,300 at a time every month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Financially sound'

Mr Manro said he and his colleague, councillor Bassam Mahfouz, had received emails from distressed families who were "moved from one hotel to another every week with their children".

He added: "This is not the life we want our residents to live and we have to send them all over the country as well."

Mr Mahfouz said nearly half of all private rentals in the area had been taken off the market in recent years.

Of the homes still on the market in the borough, only one in 50 properties would have the rent covered by low-income families or those relying on housing benefits, he said.

Any purchase made by the council would have to be "financially sound", with revenue from rent covering the costs over time, he added.

Council leader Peter Mason praised the plan and cited the council's similar previous decision to purchase Aspect House for £7.5m, which provided 31 housing units.

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