industry news
Sale of Kent barracks site to London council sparks protest There have been similar protests from
A Kent council has protested after it was outbid by a London council for a disused former Ministry of Defence site, which both councils wanted to convert to accommodation for homeless families. The Howe Barracks are located in Canterbury
and the city council wanted to take a lease on the site and use it to house people on its housing register. It was outbid by the London Borough of Redbridge, located 60 miles away on the borders of east London and Essex.
“Canterbury City Council was outbid by the London Borough of Redbridge, which is located 60 miles away on the borders of east London and Essex”
Redbridge are planning to move 208 families
from temporary accommodation into the former barracks in Canterbury this summer. Simon Cook, the leader of Canterbury City
Council, said the council had looked at whether they could take legal action but conceded the law allows councils to place people outside of their area. He added: “We will monitor this to ensure Redbridge follows due process and will take action if they fail to do so.”
Stretched
He said it was “very regrettable” that a council can solve its housing problems by moving people “miles away from friends and family,” and the council would be lobbying the Local Government Association and other housing bodies to call for a change in legislation. Mr Cook said the sudden arrival of 208
families will “place a financial strain on many local public services…at a time when resources are already stretched to capacity”.
councils in coastal areas and in the Midlands following action by London councils, to house homeless families in cheaper accommodation far outside the capital. A spokesperson for Redbridge Council said:
“Where we have a statutory duty to place a homeless household we try to secure suitable and available temporary accommodation in the borough, however, we can only do this if we have local accommodation available.”
8 | HMM July 2016 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
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