Moving people into town will only create problems

The government should pay Maidstone council to take on homeless people from London.

That’s what leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, said on a visit to the town to look at housing issues.

As the KM exclusively revealed, two London boroughs are leasing 40 flats in the newly converted office block Star House, in Pudding Lane, for their residents.

Mr Farron described it as a burden the County Town could ill afford, given its financial settlement with Whitehall is “among the worst in the country”.

Homeless applications in Maidstone soared by 84 to 630 in five years until April 2016, but the number of affordable homes built in 2015-16 was the lowest for 24 years.

Generous grants to London authorities to solve the homelessness crisis has caused fam- ilies to be rehoused across the south east.

Redbridge council recently placed 125 of its homeless families in the former Howe Barracks in Canterbury.

Mr Farron, who visited the Making a Difference Maidstone shop in Church Street, said this constituted a ‘cleansing’ of the local population, many who are working and don’t wish to leave.

“We mustn’t blame these people as they are innocent, but what is happening is one authority that can’t afford to house any more people is moving them to another one that can barely afford this too, resulting in additional pressure on resources.

“If the government is going to permit this it will have to provide the resources to all councils.”

Maidstone council expressed an interest in the Star House apartments, but officers deemed they weren’t value for money. However, five were secured for Maidstone’s homeless and the council is buying more temporary accommodation to try to bring its portfolio up to about 60.

“Caps on housing benefit have led to the disappearance of the cushion of support vulnerable people receive for addiction, counselling and other problems,” Mr Farron added.

“That is a great pressure and leading to more people presenting as homeless.

“There are about a thousand people on the housing list for Maidstone alone and that doesn’t include the many people who don’t register in the first place because they don’t think they will find any.”