20 July 2007
Housing associations should help families move out of temporary accommodation by renting them properties on behalf of private landlords, says a new report.
Many private landlords are reluctant to take homeless families, while people in hostels are not always keen to rent privately, according to the London Housing Federation report.
But Coming home, published on July 17, claims that registered social landlords are well placed to unlock the potential of private rented accommodation. It urges others to follow Broadway Housing Association, which runs an agency that leases homes from private landlords and lets them to people in temporary housing.
About two-thirds of the 90,000 families in England without permanent homes live in London. The use of hostels increased after the government imposed limits on how long families could be placed in bed and breakfast accommodation.
With the government spending an estimated £640m per year on temporary housing, the federation also recommends that RSLs and councils should buy homes on the open market and let them to families in receipt of housing benefit.
LHF policy officer Matthew Bush said it would take time to build enough new homes to cut waiting lists. 'It's essential that all housing providers in London work together now if we are to reduce the use of temporary homes,' he said.
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