London’s escalating housing crisis is increasingly spilling over into surrounding counties like Essex, Kent, Berkshire, Surrey, and Hertfordshire, with towns far beyond the capital quietly absorbing homeless families relocated by London borough councils. This trend has sparked deep concern and criticism among local authorities and affected families, unveiling a growing conflict between London’s desperate need to house its homeless and the strain placed on neighbouring communities.
One stark example is Templefields House in Harlow, Essex, a converted former office block where dozens of families—displaced by London councils such as Lewisham and Redbridge—now live in what many describe as substandard, prison-like conditions. Chiara Repetti, a single mother placed there by Lewisham Council, said she feels isolated and abandoned: “They said I need to stay here for four years... I’m in a prison. How could they possibly send me here? Alone, with nobody.” Her experience highlights how families are moved hundreds of miles from their support networks, often against their will, with little support and no real choice.
In this case, a BBC Panorama investigation in 2020 documented appalling conditions at Templefields, including a corpse found in a room and widespread reports of drug dealing, violence, and antisocial behaviour. Some residents have been subjected to assault and intimidation, adding to the trauma of displacement. According to Chiara and others, many face prohibitive travel costs and logistical barriers to returning to their home boroughs in London, further deepening their sense of displacement and vulnerability.
Harlow Council has emerged as a vocal critic of this practice, condemning the “inhumane” relocation of vulnerable people and the impact on local services and community cohesion. Council leader Dan Swords has described how London boroughs essentially “dump” families in Harlow, pushing local taxpayers to enforce housing standards on properties technically owned or leased by London authorities. Swords also decried rising crime rates in areas with a high concentration of temporary accommodation, pointing to a 20% surge in Harlow town centre following the opening of Terminus House for homeless families in 2018. He underscored that housing a resident for several years before discharging homelessness duties effectively abdicates London councils’ responsibilities, burdening Essex with the fallout.
These local grievances are echoed across other home counties. Basildon, Essex, has seen the number of homeless children soar by over 30% in four years, imposing a £3 million annual cost on the council. In Romford, Havering councillors have launched investigations after other London boroughs acquired local homes to house their homeless families, intensifying demands on schools and healthcare services. Such activity has precipitated fears of resource depletion and community strain, exacerbated by a municipal competition resembling a real estate bidding war, whereby wealthier London councils outbid local authorities for housing stock, distorting local markets.
The problem is compounded by policy changes within London itself. In September 2024, Tower Hamlets Council scrapped a previously imposed 90-minute travel limit on placements, expanding the geographic zones from just within the borough and Greater London to encompass the Home Counties and beyond. This move has elicited sharp criticism from opposition councillors, who labelled the policy “terrible” for vulnerable families uprooted far from their support systems.
Data released by London Councils underscores the scale of the crisis: over 183,000 Londoners were estimated homeless as of October 2024, with one in every 21 children living temporarily outside stable accommodation—a record high for the capital. This homelessness emergency is forcing councils like Lambeth to place hundreds of homeless households in temporary accommodation as far afield as Herefordshire, Walsall, Birmingham, and Tendring, representing a nine-fold increase over four years.
Financially, London councils have been investing heavily in acquiring properties in surrounding counties to accommodate displaced residents. Since 2017, councils including Waltham Forest and Bromley have spent nearly £80 million on over 500 homes in areas like Harlow, Thurrock, and Maidstone. This approach aims to relieve the acute housing pressures in London by relocating families to more affordable areas, yet it also shifts the burden and disrupts communities elsewhere.
This dispersal strategy reveals a troubling postcode lottery for temporary accommodation placements. Campaigners and local leaders call for national legislation to impose universal distance caps on relocation, prevent councils from discharging duties to those refusing distant housing offers, and mandate rapid repairs of unsafe housing facilities. The lack of coordinated cooperation among councils disrupts efforts to address homelessness holistically, turning the housing crisis into a fragmented and often predatory game of shifting problems around the country.
The experiences of displaced families like Chiara Repetti and Momotaz Islam and her family, moved by Redbridge Council from East London to Harlow, paint a personal crisis amid these systemic issues. They face overcrowding, lack of support, disrupted healthcare, loss of employment, and diminished educational outcomes for their children. The human cost underscores the urgent need for more sustainable, humane solutions and stronger government intervention that balances the needs of London with those of the communities forced to absorb its homeless population.
The current landscape reveals a fractured and often starkly inequitable approach to homelessness in the capital and beyond. Without tighter regulations, improved inter-council cooperation, increased investment in social housing, and protections for displaced families, the ripple effects of London’s housing crisis will continue to destabilise vulnerable populations and strain home counties ill-equipped to manage an expanding tide of homelessness.
📌 Reference Map:
- Paragraph 1 – [1] MyLondon
- Paragraph 2 – [1] MyLondon
- Paragraph 3 – [1] MyLondon
- Paragraph 4 – [1] MyLondon
- Paragraph 5 – [1] MyLondon
- Paragraph 6 – [1] MyLondon
- Paragraph 7 – [4] East Anglia Bylines, [3] The Havering Daily
- Paragraph 8 – [2] BBC News
- Paragraph 9 – [7] London Councils Report, [6] Evening Standard
- Paragraph 10 – [5] Property Perpetuity
- Paragraph 11 – [1] MyLondon, [3] The Havering Daily
Source: Noah Wire Services