Local councils in London, along with housing companies they have a stake in, have gone beyond spending £140 million on purchasing homes to relocate people facing homelessness from the city.This comes after a Guardian analysis of property ownership data which revealed that more than a dozen councils across the capital have collectively spent millions to acquire over 850 properties in towns and cities throughout England since 2017. These homes are either owned outright by the councils or by their affiliated companies and are utilized to house individuals and families who are homeless, providing both emergency and permanent accommodation solutions.
Most of these homes are situated in the southeast and east of England, areas already heavily burdened with their own homelessness crises. Recently, however, some London councils have started looking at wider areas for property investments; they have been eyeing opportunities in the Midlands and the northeast as well.This relocation strategy for housing has received criticism from housing charities, who argue that displacing families from their communities disrupts their lives. This issue has prompted Labour MPs to urge for changes in the government’s approach to these out-of-area placements, which are currently at their highest level since records started.
For instance, Waltham Forest and Bromley councils, in collaboration with the Mears Group, have spent nearly £80 million since 2017 on acquiring over 500 homes in regions such as Harlow and Thurrock in Essex and Maidstone in Kent, for the purpose of housing and rehousing individuals from London. Similar patterns of investment have been observed with other councils like Brent (spending over £18 million on 75 homes across Milton Keynes, Hemel Hempstead, and Slough) and Barnet (spending over £10 million on nearly 70 homes in Peterborough and Luton). Enfield council’s Housing Gateway alone spent £13 million in 2018 to purchase Greenway House, an office block converted into 83 temporary accommodations.
While councils have been critiqued for these relocation practices, they argue that they are a necessary response to the severe housing shortages and availability of affordable housing in London. Some have even begun plans to develop homes in regions like Liverpool as a more direct response to housing needs. The concerns raised by housing charities and MPs highlight the broader issues within the housing market and the need for long-term, rather than temporary, housing solutions.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/08/london-councils-buy-140m-property-move-homeless-people-out-city
