London borough U-turns on plan to send homeless over 90 minutes outside capital after public outcry

A London borough has u-turned on plans to send homeless families more than 90 minutes outside the capital after public outcry.

Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman had proposed putting households in temporary accommodation outside out of London and the home counties in a bid to save money.

But the plan prompted one of Mr Rahman’s independent Aspire councillors to quit his administration in fury and was criticised by the Labour opposition.

On Wednesday night the mayor backtracked.

Mr Rahman said: “There has been much scaremongering and misinformation about this proposed policy over the past week, in a way that plays politics with the lives of our residents,

“My role as executive mayor is to rise above the politics and listen through the noise to what our residents are actually saying.

“As a result of this listening, I am suspending the implementation of the proposed change to the Homelessness Placement Policy to allow us more time to properly review and assess its implications for people.

“As things stand, the 90-minute limit on relocation remains in place.”

Tower Hamlets has more than 2,000 families placed in temporary accommodation and over 19,000 households on its housing waiting list.

Under current rules, the council cannot move people more than an hour and a half away from the borough.

But the town hall had proposed placing some people as far afield as the midlands and northern England.

Councillor Kabir Hussain resigned from the Aspire Party in protest at the move earlier this week.