Freedom of Information Act request reveals ten families have been shipped off to the north-east in last six months while others have ended up in Blackpool and Telford, reports James Cracknell

Map showing the 246-mile route from Enfield (inset left) and Hartlepool (inset right) — Map showing the 246-mile route from Enfield (inset left) to Hartlepool (inset right)

Enfield Council has been sending local homeless families to live in north-east towns such as Hartlepool and Durham – or face being thrown out on to the street if they refuse.

Data provided following a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request submitted by the Dispatch shows that since introducing a new policy of only making one housing offer to homeless families stuck living in emergency hotel accommodation, ten out of 18 families moved have been relocated by the council to the north-east of England.

Since last November, five Enfield families have been sent to live in Hartlepool, which is 246 miles away, while another four have been sent to live in Durham, 266 miles away. A tenth family has been sent to another north-east town, Ferryhill, 256 miles away.

Other towns where local homeless families have been moved to include Blackpool (234 miles), Telford (145 miles) and Derby (126 miles).

The council decided last summer that it needed to take drastic action to try to reduce the number of homeless families being put up in bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation – often cheap hotels such as the Travelodge on the A10. Last year the local authority overspent on its budget for temporary housing by £19million, contributing to the “most challenging ever” year for the borough’s finance chiefs.

To do this, the Labour administration agreed to send families outside the south-east of England, where housing is cheaper, while only giving them one offer before ‘discharging its duty’ – effectively meaning they would be given an ultimatum of either moving many miles away from Enfield or being forced to sleep rough.

But the data obtained by the Dispatch shows that in the vast majority of cases families are not just being moved outside the south-east of England, but hundreds of miles north.

An ombudsman recently ruled that in one case, an Enfield family that refused to move 250 miles away after being given less than 24 hours to consider the offer had suffered a “significant injustice” and the council should pay them £5,000. They had also spent a year living in a hotel.

The Dispatch has also previously spoken to a single mother with three young children who refused to move to Telford – they were subsequently forced to spend Christmas in a homeless shelter with other rough sleepers.

Matt Burn, from campaign group Better Homes Enfield, said: “Too many families in Enfield are living with housing insecurity and the anxiety of knowing the council might relocate them hundreds of miles away at short notice.

“The displacement of vulnerable families is deeply concerning and in part, caused by the council’s demolition of social rent homes. It’s also unnecessary, considering there are over 36,000 long-term vacant homes in London, including over one thousand empty homes in Enfield.”

Last month Citizens Advice Enfield (CAE) and Local Motion, a social justice group, ran a workshop on the housing crisis at Edmonton Green Library. The forum was attended by people experiencing homelessness.

Panos Bouras, from CAE, said: “Due to the high level of the crisis the council is now recommending/advising that clients take control of finding their own accommodation rather than waiting for the local authority to place them which could be anywhere in the country.

“A number of voluntary sector organisations present at the event including CAE discussed ways to support and empower residents to do this.”

Update (9th April):

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Temporary accommodation is an important safety net for emergencies, but it should never be a long-term solution. It is our priority to help families to find decent and affordable homes but due to the extreme lack of appropriate housing in London, we have had to follow the approach in comparison with other London boroughs to assist homeless households to move outside of the capital.

“Given the realities of the housing crisis this is often the best solution for families who need to move into the private sector, with rent levels they can truly afford.

“We will always help individuals and families to move with practical solutions, including access to Beam which helps applicants to find a stable job, start work and to move into a comfortable, private rented property.

“Households will be prioritised for the extremely limited supply of local accommodation based on priority need.”

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