Newham aims to buy up to 500 new homes each year to provide high standard temporary accommodation as part of a new set of initiatives to confront the Borough’s homes crisis.

The plans were welcomed by the council amid positive signs of improvement in an area where poverty levels are high and, according to Trust for London, Newham tops the chart in having the highest number of people living in temporary accommodation in the country.

Shaban Mohammed (Canning Town North) who leads for the council on this issue said: “Temporary accommodation has always been a key matter of concern for Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz.

“Recognising the high levels of case work relating to poor standards of accommodation that Councillors were continually having to deal with, the push to drive up standards is a priority. Consequently, the Council is reviewing standards of temporary accommodation in the Borough to determine whether accommodation is fit for purpose and meets basic standards such as state of repair, fire regulations, energy efficiency, ventilation etc.”

He said the report and investigation into temporary accommodation revealed that only around 50 percent of properties were broadly in good condition, 46 percent were average, but many were not satisfactory, and there was also a backlog of properties still to tackle.”

Because of fears that rejected properties might be offered to other local authorities with less stringent controls, Newham Council is collaborating with Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Enfield Council on an agreement which allows checks to be conducted to ensure landlords are accredited.

He said that great work has been achieved in housing, homelessness and temporary accommodation since 2018. “We have seen a 10 percent reduction in temporary hotel accommodation, the most insecure and expensive form of temporary accommodation. This demonstrates that the Council and current administration is taking the issue seriously.”

With the need for temporary accommodation exacerbated by the pandemic, as a result of job losses causing people to fall behind on their rent or mortgage and become homeless, Councillor Mohammed says the plan to tackle temporary accommodation is a very ambitious “acquisitions programme to purchase new housing”.

An acquisitions board has been set up to buy property in Newham using different funding streams, which will include Council money, but also consider other options of financial investment such as banks and pension funds interested in social housing.

The initiative will be a much more cost-effective approach to previous solutions like hotel accommodation or managing older properties with higher maintenance costs.

How Newham Compares

Highest number of people living in temporary accommodation (49.36 per 1,000 households).
Highest number of evictions among London boroughs. (3.4 per 1,000 households compared to 1.7 for London overall)
Newham worst-hit London borough in terms of proportion of total deaths due to Covid infections during the last year of the pandemic (c.32 per cent)
Highest furlough rate in London during the pandemic (22 percent)
Rough sleepers more commonly sighted in Newham than other London Boroughs

Source: Trust for London

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