Londoners could be rehoused as far as Coventry if they lose their homes

Homeless people in one of London's richest boroughs could be sent to live almost 100 miles away in Coventry under plans revealed by the City of Westminster.



Westminster council has announced that the rise in homelessness, cuts in benefits and the plan to force local authorities to sell off social housing could lead to the relocation of homeless families.

Just three per cent of homeless families from Westminster have been relocated outside the capital, but the council says the number is likely to rise.

Westminster's cabinet member for housing, Cllr Daniel Astaire, told The Guardian that moving families outside London is inevitable.

'While we always try to provide accommodation for homeless people in Westminster, like many other boroughs of all political persuasions we have to look at identifying suitable homes beyond the city's boundaries,' he said.

Westminster's homeless families are put into priority bands, with those who need extensive care and support.

Families with children nearing key exams in local schools and those with jobs in Westminster qualify for temporary accommodation elsewhere in Greater London.

All others qualify for band three, and are offered private rentals in south-east England and further.

Areas in the West Midlands, including Coventry, were identified by the council as the best opportunities, but housing is 'limited even in these areas'.

Coventry, which sits just outside Birmingham, is 96 miles from Westminster.

There are currently 14,000 families in Coventry on the council's waiting list.

Is this why they are building so many houses here not for our own but for others. I did nt realise we had that amount of land left to house all these.

They have changed the law again that they have to house every one seems its not working if 14 thousand here in Coventry are waiting to be housed.

Once again this highlights the stupidity of unfettered immigration. We are full: we can't cope with what we have, yet the idiots isolated from reality still want to import more.

A lot of the people being rehoused were BORN in London, but can no longer afford to live there.

Agreed, but the point is as a country we are overcrowded and our infrastructure can no longer cope. Hence it is madness to continue to allow people into the country. Allowing the whole lot to come crashing down helps nobody.

According to an update this isn't going to happen.

According to an update this isn't going to happen.

So it's just their Rugby club and fans who are being rehoused here then?