Ministers could ban London councils ‘dumping’ homeless families miles away

Houses in Hartlepool. Some London families have been sent to the town, whose MP said the policy was increasing local tension. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Houses in Hartlepool. Some London families have been sent to the town, whose MP said the policy was increasing local tension. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Ministers could ban London councils ‘dumping’ homeless families miles away Measures being considered to crack down on practice that has grown as a result of Britain’s housing crisis London councils could be banned from “dumping” homeless families hundreds of miles across England under measures being considered by ministers, the Guardian has learned. MPs said vulnerable people, including women fleeing abuse, were being “coerced” into choosing between rough sleeping or moving to cheap, sparsely furnished properties in some of the poorest parts of the country. Charities said the policy meant some domestic abuse victims had returned to their abuser because they did not want to move north, while others were having to live in emergency domestic abuse refuges. Ministers are planning to crack down on London councils increasingly sending homeless families far away from the capital, a practice that has grown as a result of Britain’s housing crisis. Some London councils, which are at the forefront of the increase in homelessness, have been found to have acted unlawfully in dispatching vulnerable families to cheaper housing hundreds of miles away. After a Guardian investigation published on Monday, Florence Eshalomi, the chair of the Commons housing select committee, urged ministers to “seriously examine introducing a limit on the distance of all out-of-area placements”. Alison McGovern, the homelessness minister, said the practice was a “real worry” and that the government was prepared to “clamp down on the worst form of it” after a review currently under way. Government guidance states that out-of-area placements should “never be determined on the basis of cost alone” but McGovern said ministers would consider going further, because “something is clearly not working here”. Any ban on long-distance moves is likely to include exceptions for people who need to leave London. Jonathan Brash, the Labour MP for Hartlepool in County Durham, called for the law to be “radically tightened” to stop a policy he said was increasing local tension and “ripping at the social fabric” of his town. He said: “It is not fair, it is not sustainable, and it is time it stopped.” Under the Housing Act , local authorities must “so far as reasonably practical” find accommodation in their borough. If it is outside this area, the council must legally notify the other local authority that they are sending homeless people to them. However, several London councils have been found by the high court to have acted unlawfully in recent years. Housing lawyers, charities, MPs and council leaders said some were routinely flouting the l