Council set to buy 300 ex-council homes for refugees and other homeless families

A Labour-run council in London is set to purchase more than 300 former council homes, in a move the local authority said would make its buy-backs programme “one of the largest in the country”.

Islington council in north London is expected this week to approve plans to buy back 310 ex-council homes, in addition to the 100 houses it announced it would buy back earlier this year. All of the homes will be former council homes within the London borough that were sold under the right-to-buy scheme.

The announcement follows Labour nationally pledging to deliver the “biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation”, with deputy leader and Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Angela Rayner stressing at party conference last week that the party’s plans would include council housing.

Islington council said the newly-announced 310 homes would provide “safe, decent temporary accommodation” for people who are experiencing homelessness and refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The council secured £82m from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to purchase the additional homes – which will be a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom properties. The council will also add £85m of funding.

A report setting out the proposals in full is recommended for approval by the council’s executive on Thursday.

Una O’Halloran – Islington council’s executive member for homes and communities – said: “We want everyone in Islington to have a safe, decent and genuinely affordable place to call home.

“Every council home we buy back or build is another home where people can thrive. These homes will provide a secure base from which people who are experiencing homelessness or have had to flee conflict can start to rebuild their lives locally.

“They will mean more people benefit from good quality temporary accommodation in Islington when they need it most. I’m proud that we are leading the way with our buy-backs programme and also doing everything we can to increase the amount of council homes in the borough.”

Martin Wicks, secretary of the Labour Campaign for Council Housing, noted that Islington is “one of many councils now buying homes on the market for council housing”, though he highlighted the impact of the “shortage of grant from Homes England”, as well as the “high cost” of new building.

Wicks added: “Unfortunately, Labour appears to be sticking to the funding level of the Tories’ Affordable Homes Programme. It’s necessary for Labour councils to campaign for Labour to increase the grant available or they will be unable to build on the scale they need.”

The final document of Labour’s National Policy Forum process – signed off by delegates at this year’s party conference – includes a commitment to “reprioritise government grant by reforming the underperforming Affordable Homes Programme”.