Westminster Buys Houses outside London for Homeless

What has been described as the ‘chaos’ besetting Westminster council’s homeless strategy has been laid bare as councillors in the central London borough agreed to buy or lease 600 extra properties, most of which will be outside its borders.  The ‘emergency measures’ have been taken in an attempt to cope with an 86% increase over the past two years in families classed as homeless.  The revelation comes just two weeks after the Bureau revealed Westminster spends more on short-term accommodation than any other council. It has projected that it will spend £41.8m on temporary accommodation – a 63.5% increase this financial year. The figure, said the council, is more than it is saving on welfare reforms. Read more on the Bureau of Investigative Journalism website.