Wandsworth Council is to house its homeless families as far away as Birmingham, Leicester and West Bromwich, because it is too expensive to house them in the borough.
As part of the borough’s homelessness battle the council has arranged 62 properties for private licence agreements, 19 of which are out of the borough.
The areas include Kingston, Sutton, Reigate and Banstead, Merton, Croydon, Lambeth, Birmingham, Portsmouth City, Leicester, West Bromwich and High Wycombe.
Last year, this newspaper revealed the council’s £5m project of buying properties for its homeless in less expensive areas of outer London.
Now it has emerged that £1.25m emergency funding has been agreed to help with ongoing pressures and a second £5m fund will be used this year to buy large units of temporary accommodation inside and outside the borough.
Council statistics revealed that in March 2014 there were 791 homeless households in Wandsworth. Experts estimate there will be a whopping 1,120 by March 31, this year.
Documents also reveal that only 39 per cent of homelessness applications are dealt with in 33 working days.
A family has to earn nearly £144,000 a year before they can purchase the average Wandsworth home.
Tooting MP Sadiq Khan said: “Like the rest of London, Wandsworth is experiencing a housing crisis, and there is no doubt about it, this needs tackling.
“But moving some of our most vulnerable families hundreds of miles to places such as Birmingham and West Bromwich, away from their family and friends and other support networks, isn’t the answer.
“But I’m afraid this is not a one off. It’s happening more and more right on our doorstep and Wandsworth Council should be ashamed.
MP Sadiq Khan said the council should be 'ashamed'
“Instead of wasting millions on housing out of the borough, the council should show a commitment to building more affordable housing and social housing – so we can help homeless families in their hour of need, rather than moving them to the West Midlands.”
A council spokesman said: “The council is spending significant extra sums on providing homes for families who have become homeless through no fault of their own.
"The vast majority of this new housing is in south-west London, but some properties are further afield because this offers better value for money or because homeless families have expressed a wish to relocate to other parts of the country.
“We would never make a family accept a property that wasn’t suitable and didn’t fully meet their needs.”
Have you been relocated out of Wandsworth? Tell us your story by emailing ssleigh@london.newsquest.co.uk
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