Council to spend £48m on social housing as waiting list passes 27,000
By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter
A council has agreed to spend more than £48million on new socially rented homes as the authority’s housing waiting list passes 27,000 households.
The cash injection promised by Greenwich council will reportedly allow the authority to buy 150 homes for social housing.
More than £31million of the sum arises from a Greater London Authority grant, while the remaining £17million will be borrowed from the authority’s housing revenue account. The decision on the purchase was made by Labour Councillor Anthony Okereke, leader of the council, last week before coming into effect on August 20.
The approval also means 50 more homes will become available for temporary accommodation by repurposing empty council-owned properties. Council documents claimed the decision had been made given the ongoing pressure the authority was facing on reducing its spending on temporary accommodation.
Officers added that nearly 2,000 homeless households were living in temporary accommodation, with 240 of these households being placed in hotel rooms by the council.
The report claimed hotels offered a “poor service” to homeless residents and the issue was placing the council under extreme financial pressure. Figures from last October claimed the authority was spending £800,000 a month allocating homeless individuals in Travelodge hotel rooms.
Greenwich council agreed in February this year to raise the number of homes it owns for use as temporary accommodation to 197 units. Officers claimed in their recent report that the authority planned to increase this figure to 247 by March 2026.
The authority previously gave approval for 62 new affordable flats to be built on the site of a vacant housing block in Eltham in April this year. The scheme will see the new homes being built in an L-shaped block up to seven storeys tall on Riefield Road with units being available at 65 per cent of market rent levels.
Pictured top: The Woolwich Centre, where Greenwich council’s offices are based (Picture: Joe Coughlan)