How London dumps its council housing tenants on the unsuspecting Home Counties

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ondon councils with deep pockets are syphoning off their social housing problems to the Home Counties, leaving thousands outside the capital trapped on waiting lists.

Communities say it’s piling pressure on local schools and services and warn that offering local homes to the highest bidder is creating a housing crisis.

Newham Council signed a lease for Anchorage House, an eleven-story converted office block in Chatham, Kent, late last year – removing 81 potential homes from Medway Council’s provision. The spacious, fully-furnished flats overlook the River Medway and are located just a five-minute walk from the town’s bustling centre.

Medway currently has around 480 families waiting for temporary housing. In Newham, the number is 10 times that – hovering at around 5,000.

While Medway can afford to pay around £35 to £50 a night for temporary accommodation, London councils such as Newham can afford roughly double that – between £70 and £80 a night. That’s a difference of nearly £1,000 a month per flat, or £886,950 a year across the entire building.

Residents told The Telegraph they had no idea London families were starting to be moved in. One worker at a homeless charity, upon hearing what was going on, said: “So they’ve just offloaded their housing problems on to us? Unbelievable.”

Sitting next to him was a bag of potatoes he said he was about to deliver to a family struggling to make ends meet who had just been moved out of temporary housing.