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B&B bill runs into millions
As Town Hall auctions off its homes
THE Town Hall has spent more than £7 million on bed and breakfast accommodation for people waiting for council flats in the last year.
The staggering cost was revealed as housing chiefs were ordering the sale of a series of properties to private bidders.
Their home sales strategy is currently the subject of an investigation Housing Minister John Healey, who placated complaints from Labour supporting residents by promising to look into the matter.
The latest batch of homes which were sold off on Monday included flats in Gaisford Street and Islip Street in Kentish Town.
Housing chiefs say they need the money to the help pay for refurbishment of the rest of the stock. But critics insist money should be found elsewhere and not through selling off homes that could be used for people on the waiting list.
Many of those in the most desperate need end up in hotel accommodation, paid for as a last resort.
The New Journal can now reveal that three companies collected more than £1 million for providing hotel accommodation in these circumstances, while a fourth cashed in to the tune of £797,843 and a fifth earned for £555,502 for providing bed and breakfast service over the past 12 months.
Top earners were Star Estates and Lettings, which collected £1,788,637 from the council.
The figures were released to the New Journal under the Audit Commission Act – a rarely-used tool which allows people to see the fine detail of the council’s accounts for four weeks every year.
We used the same rules to obtain details of staff bonuses, compensation claims and consultant fees during the summer.
The total spend on bed and breakfast for the last financial year came in at £7,178,149.
Liberal Democrat housing chief Councillor Chris Naylor said: “It is a similar figure to what other boroughs pay. We are working hard to reduce that figure, that is why we are reviewing hostel provision. We believe we can reduce the bill by £2 million.”
He added: “Since John Healey said he was looking at Camden's case, we have had no contact from the minister whatsoever.” |
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