17 July 2015
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea last night (Thursday 16 July 2015) assigned £10m to fund the purchase of a significant number of high quality homes for temporary accommodation.
Properties in the private housing market will be considered up to the maximum value of £450,000. The Council anticipates that it could buy up to 39 properties (consisting of 27 two-bed properties and 12 three-bed properties).
Since 2010 the number of households in temporary accommodation has been on the rise and with fewer affordable properties available in the private rented sector, the Council is considering locations including London, the M25 area and southern counties.
Councillor Nick Paget-Brown, the Leader of the Royal Borough, said:
"The reality is we are facing a great shortage of properties in which to house those in greatest need. The pool available to us in the private sector is falling, and with the number of homeless households on our list rising, we believe purchasing our own stock is the right strategy to not only increase supply but contain costs.
"In an ideal world we would like to buy properties in Kensington and Chelsea, but the numbers simply don't stack up. In reality we could only buy a handful of homes here, but by looking further afield we can purchase significantly more, making a huge difference to those on our waiting list."
The Council plans to start purchasing properties that are a commutable distance from the Royal Borough in the autumn, with the first household moving in during March 2016.