Lambeth Council has suggested amendments to its temporary accommodation placement policy.

The policy provides guidelines for how the local authority allocates temporary accommodation and private rented homes to homeless households in the borough.

According to the council, its placement policy has stayed largely the same for over 10 years, failing to reflect issues such as the lack of affordable homes and the dramatic rise in the local authority’s temporary accommodation spending, which exceeds £100m annually.

Emphasising the housing crisis’ ‘crippling impact’, the council has revealed that its updated policy will outline how private sector tenancies are the ‘most suitable option for homeless households who at the moment are likely to be placed in insecure and often poorer-quality temporary accommodation’.

The report reads: ‘The aim [of the policy] is to secure accommodation that is affordable and can provide settled long term housing for families affected by homelessness’.

The local authority has also advised that most households will need to be relocated outside the borough and the southeast due to the ‘acute shortage’ of affordable housing in Lambeth.

However, the council has confirmed that the revised policy will seek to prioritise the distribution of temporary accommodation ‘within or close to the borough’ for those with specific educational, care and medical needs.

Cllr Danny Adilypour, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, Investment and New Homes said: ‘Our new Placement Policy reflects the challenging reality we face – record numbers of families presenting themselves as homeless in Lambeth every day and unsustainable pressure on council finances caused by our increased need to source temporary accommodation to keep these families off the streets.

‘We are determined to continue meeting our moral and legal duty to homeless families in Lambeth, whilst ensuring the financial stability of the council.

‘Whilst this will mean placing families further away from Lambeth than they would like to be, we are determined to give them the stability and security they desperately need by giving them longer term placements in areas that will meet their family, cultural and community needs. This allows them to plan for the future, knowing they have a safe and secure home.’

The report notes that ‘the policy will be enacted once the statutory review function has been brought in house, which is planned for December 2025’.