Could London’s Homeless Be Housed In Liverpool?Reports suggested the London borough of Enfield could look to buy up properties in the city for its own homeless people, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The rising numbers of people rough sleeping and being left homeless is a concern in any city. During its recent budget setting process, Liverpool Council cited the increasing pressure of homelessness on its books, with cash having to be found to support those in need. This is the case for councils up and down the country, with many relying on temporary accommodation or expensive hotels to house people who have nowhere to go, sometimes through no fault of their own. One such council is Enfield in north London.

The borough is located more than 200 miles away from Liverpool but caused quite a stir in the north west last week as it emerged from national press reports that the council was seeking to buy up dozens of properties in this city region for its own homeless people to be housed in.

The news came via a document released in October last year in which the London council’s housing and regeneration scrutiny panel was told through its own wholly owned company Housing Gateway, it anticipated purchasing 28 properties “around the Liverpool area” in the next six months. A further report in December said it was “more cost effective” for Enfield to own accommodation than to lease it and would target piloting a scheme here. The documents said: “This will enable residents to be in the local area where they can seek to find suitable, long-term accommodation. Leasing temporary accommodation is a huge cost pressure for Enfield that is not sustainable indefinitely. It is therefore important that Enfield reduce the amount of TA in use.”

However, the borough has now sought to calm fears the London council could be sending more people to take up vital properties in the city. However, it could still consider looking across the wider Liverpool City Region. An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Enfield Council is committed to providing safe, stable, and affordable housing for our residents who are experiencing homelessness. In recent years, the significant shortage of affordable rental homes in Enfield and across London has impacted our ability to place families in suitable homes within the borough. This crisis has been worsened by rising rents, a collapsing private rental sector for affordable homes within Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, and an increasing number of families and residents facing homelessness. To ensure that residents have access to secure, long-term stable homes, we have taken the difficult but necessary step of looking into the possibility of buying a small number of residential properties in more affordable areas, including the wider Liverpool area, though not in the City of Liverpool.”

The spokesperson added: “At this time, no properties have been acquired in the Liverpool area.” The council said this approach was guided by policy introduced to address the severe shortfall in temporary accommodation and reduce the reliance on costly and unsuitable hotel placements. Where possible, we continue to seek housing solutions closer to Enfield. Our focus remains on increasing the supply of affordable homes. We will continue to work with the government to address our borough’s housing needs.” This is not uncommon, however. Councils are often forced to relocate people out of city boundaries where required, for example if they need special types of accommodation or are required support with a pet.

Cllr Sam East, Liverpool Council cabinet member for housing, said since reports emerged, the authority had been working to establish the facts. He said: “The reports were alarming and I understand the concern it’s caused – however it’s simply not as described. Enfield Council have given us a statement that they have no properties in Liverpool, nor any plans to procure them. It appears there is an intention to procure in the wider Merseyside region though, and this may have been mistakenly communicated as Liverpool. As a result of our enquiries this week we have already shared information with our neighbouring authorities to support them with this. Out of boundary placements happen, but it can’t be right for local authorities to make a policy decision of this nature and move people hundreds of miles routinely. It’s another stark symptom of the housing and homelessness crisis in this country, and we will look to work on this across a city region footprint, through the Local Government Association and with the new government.”

Despite this, the challenges remain here at home to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness. The trend of rough sleeping in Liverpool ticked upward throughout 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023. The average number of people seen each night rough sleeping between April and September 2024 was 30, an increase on the average of 22 people seen per night over the same period in 2023. Documents released by the city council last month also set out how an increase in people seeking asylum and prisoners released early risks adding to Liverpool’s already climbing rough sleeping figures. Without mitigation, it is expected that more than £11m in budget pressures could be added to the council’s books as a result of the growing homelessness crisis.

The proposals from down south attracted anger from Cllr Carl Cashman, leader of the Liverpool Liberal Democrats. He said: “In Liverpool, we’ve already got a temporary accommodation bill for our residents – it’s ballooned in size, now it’s costing the taxpayers millions every year. This isn’t kicking the can down the road, this is kicking it across the other side of the country. This is not good for people being moved nor the communities they are being moved to. Imagine the council telling you they’ll house you but only if you move over 170 miles away, that’s awful and it’s going to add even more upheaval to people’s lives. We need the Labour government to listen to councils. They are being crushed under the weight of mounting costs and we are struggling to get by. We need national funding to launch local initiatives to tackle homelessness in our towns and cities – not just Liverpool but across the country. That starts with providing social housing for those that need it in our communities – something the Lib Dems have long called for in Liverpool.”

This prompted a response from Cllr East. He said: “I would gently make two points to the politicians in our city who chose to make sweeping public statements on this issue. Firstly, if they had approached me for an understanding of the facts here I would have happily worked with them. We all want to work together on the homelessness crisis. Instead they went straight out to make a public statement attacking the city council and no doubt caused undue concern in our communities.”