The London borough of Newham is lobbying the Government to be allowed to house families outside the area.
The local authority is one of several London boroughs placing homeless families away from the capital, including households unable to afford private rents because of new benefit caps.
The Government is now seeking to restrict local authorities’ ability to place families away from their local areas.
Newham says there are simply not enough properties in its borough that fall within the capped Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, and says there are not enough private landlords who will accept benefit claimants.
The council has expressed its opinions in written evidence to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee which is examining the progress being made towards the implementation of the Universal Credit.
Newham says it currently has around 250 households living in temporary accommodation who will be subject to the total benefit cap proposed under the Universal Credit, and who will collectively lose £1.16m a year in income.
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Comments
@Landlords and Agents of Newham (Not that many will be reading this) If you could receive your rent on time from the start of the tenancy and clawbacks were a matter between the claimant and LHA would you be more open to renting to rent assisted tenants prepared to pay the going rate?
@Newham Council (who certainly won't be reading this) my suggestion looks a lot less like social cleansing, I know that isn't what you are doing but that is how it will feel to the tenants with family and social connections to Newham. "because you are poor you will live where you can be housed" Surely all you are doing is bumping your problem to somewhere else? This knocks on down the line till the last 1,000 or so are housed in an ex Hi-Di- Holiday camp on Craggy Island or an ex- cruise liner re-floated from the bottom of the Med.