Local Families Being Rehoused in Birmingham and Manchester
Rising numbers in Hammersmith & Fulham being sent outside borough
A road sign to the north. Picture: Google Streetview
Families in the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham have had to move over 200 miles away to Manchester as there are not enough houses in the borough. Residents in need of a home were also sent to live in temporary accommodation in Birmingham by the council.
As many as 23 families may have been housed outside of London in locations such as Slough in Berkshire, Sandwell in the West Midlands and Spelthorne in Surrey, according to the council’s latest data on 10 October.
As many as four families have been housed in Manchester – a four-hour drive from the borough, while other families have been put up 120 miles away in Birmingham, council statistics show.
The figures were obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service through a Freedom of Information request to Hammersmith and Fulham Council. In total, 683 households had to be placed outside the borough by Hammersmith and Fulham. More than 650 families were put in homes around London.
The number could be higher, as the council refused to provide exact figures where the number of families housed in a council area was less than five. There are 120 families living in Brent while they wait for accommodation, 210 families are waiting in Ealing and 74 families are waiting in Hounslow. A further 46 families have been placed in Enfield.
The number of households placed outside the borough is on the rise. Since March 2021, fifty families have had to be moved outside of Hammersmith and Fulham.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council is looking to build 3,000 affordable homes in the next four years to tackle the local housing crisis. In total, the council wants to build 10,000 homes, half of which will be classed as affordable.
The borough is also set to be transformed by the new HS2 and Crossrail station at Old Oak Common. A further 22,000 private homes are expected to be built close to the station development.
Jacob Phillips - Local Democracy Reporter
October 25, 2022