Over 200 households offered council housing outside of Green-run London borough

New figures show that more than 200 households facing homelessness were offered accommodation outside of the east London borough they live in.Waltham Forest Council offered 212 households deemed at-risk of losing the roof over their head with alternative housing that was beyond the borough’s boundaries.Only 38 households were offered accommodation within the borough, according to statistics released by Waltham Forest town hall.The Green Party-led local authority has blamed housing shortages for being unable to offer more households the chance to remain in the borough.Councillor Eva Tabbasam, the cabinet member for housing, said rent prices in Waltham Forest, which includes the neighbourhoods of Walthamstow, Leyton and Chingford, meant those on benefits could not afford properties locally. She said: “The administration is committed to reducing the need for homeless households, particularly families with children, to be placed outside the borough.“However, severe pressures within the local housing market continue to limit the availability of suitable and affordable accommodation in Waltham Forest.The Green Party secured a majority in Waltham Forest with a pledge to reduce at-risk placements outside the boroughDaniel Lynch“Less than 1% of private rented homes advertised locally are generally affordable to households who are reliant on benefits or working fewer than 16 hours per week.“As a result, the council must often secure accommodation beyond borough boundaries to meet its statutory homelessness duties.”Out of the 38 families and singles offered housing within Waltham Forest between May and September 2026, two declined.Read MoreThe vast majority of homes offered to at-risk families and single people were classed as “zone B”, which extends to Greater London and the Home Counties.Nineteen singles accepted the relocation, while ten refused. The majority of the 154 family households took up their offers, with 34 declining.A further 29 families were offered “zone C” housing, described as “everywhere else”. More than half refused the offer.Labour councillor Andrew Dixon, at a full council meeting last week, raised the Green manifesto commitment to house residents in the borough “wherever possible”.He asked whether the council accepted that the reason most residents declined to relocate to zone C housing was due to the distance from the capital.In reply, Ms Tabbasam said: “We still, in principle, rely on our manifesto commitment to reduce placements outside the borough.“Ourselves, along with the five Green administrations in London, wrote to the Prime Minister to think about increasing the local housing allowance so that we can be able to afford the private market rent for family-sized homes in the borough.”She said the market rent was “simply unaffordable for us”.