More families being forced out of council housing umbrella by accepting private tenancies

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

More than 180 homeless Lambeth families had to accept flats with private landlords or face being left on the streets by their local council last year.

Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show 187 households from the borough had their housing support ended by the council after it found them a property in the private rented sector in 2024.

There has been an eight-fold increase in the number of families the council has stopped providing accommodation to after giving them a mandatory offer of housing with a private landlord since 2022.

Just nine families had their main housing duty ended by the Labour-run council after it gave them private rented accommodation in 2022 and only 23 in 2023. None of the households the council ended its main housing duty to after finding them a place in the private sector were placed outside of Lambeth.

Private sector discharges—where councils waive their legal obligation to provide accommodation to homeless individuals by finding them a property with a private landlord—have been criticised by housing campaigners for creating a ‘cycle of homelessness’.

Eviction from privately rented homes is one of the leading causes of homelessness, according to housing charity Shelter. Short contracts, ‘no fault’ evictions and unaffordable rents contribute to people struggling to keep a roof over their heads, according to the charity.

The government’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which is expected to come into law in summer, will ban no-fault evictions, which are also called section 21 evictions.

As of March 2025, a two-bed privately rented flat cost an average of £2,191 in Lambeth according to the Office for National Statistics. In comparison, the maximum weekly rent for a two-bed council home in 2024/25 was £199.09 per week, equivalent to £796.36 per month.

Over 2,000 families had their housing support ended by London councils through private sector offers in 2023, according to research by Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) published in April last year. The number of households pushed into the private sector through such offers has increased by 159 per cent since 2017 according to the housing support group.

HASL’s research, which was based on FOIs to London boroughs, found that a fifth (21 per cent) of private sector offers were not accepted by families. Under law, councils can end their housing duty and evict people from temporary accommodation if they refuse an offer.

Households moved into private sector accommodation are no longer considered homeless and may lose priority for social housing. HASL has previously expressed concern that councils are using private sector discharge offers as a tactic to make their waiting lists shorter.

Lambeth council has been approached for comment.

Pictured top: Members of Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (Picture: HASL)