THE leader of Swindon Borough Council says a decision to spend £17m on buying homes to house homeless families shows his administration is committed to tackling a growing problem.

The number of homeless households in Swindon has risen from 162 last year to 200 in 2017. The increase is in line with a trend across the whole country.

The council has a responsibility to house these people but is facing an acute shortage of affordable family sized accommodation.

It currently leases just over 430 properties from private landlords to assist with its temporary housing provision - it also enters into deals with hotels and other hospitality providers.

But a change to how assistance to homeless families is funded means that approach will not be sustainable in the long run.

In recent years, councils have received an administration fee from the government of £60 per week for each leased property, which has helped bridge the gap between the cost of these properties and the rent and housing benefit received in respect of the tenants.

This administration fee totalled approximately £1.25m of income in 2016/17. However, the government has now replaced this administration fee with a new set grant.

Swindon will get £807,000 in 2017/18 and £904,000 in 2018/19.

The change will leave the council with a shortfall of some £440,000 for the current financial year unless they can move away from using short term temporary accommodation and towards making use of their own longer term affordable housing stock.

The purchases will be paid for by using a mixture of Housing Revenue Account reserves, Right to Buy receipts, and borrowing.

Council officers believe the £17m will help to buy 100 homes for families - much of the existing emergency accommodation for homeless people is targeted at single men and may be unsuitable for families, particularly with young children.

The leader of the council, David Renard, said: “This shows the council is doing whatever it can to house those people that are currently homeless and on low incomes. I welcome this step.”

Oliver Donachie, the cabinet member for housing and homelessness, said: “The purpose of this report is to take immediate steps to provide additional homes for up to 100 homeless families.

“The intention is also to target, where possible, empty property, thereby making full use of existing housing and reducing the blight caused by empty houses in communities. I’m very proud of this report.”

While going to the market with £17m might sound like a relatively straightforward proposition, the impact that such a big single investment could have on availability and pricing is unclear.

Ross Sutton, Director at Richard James Estate Agents, said: “For anybody to buy 100 units at any given point is a big commitment and it depends, geographically, on where they’re going to focus efforts.

“If they decided to look at one particular area, then it could impact prices, particularly if they release the information about where they’re looking in advance.

“They would almost certainly have to stagger that process and not buy all in one go.

“Lack of stock has been an issue as anyone who has tried to buy a house recently would tell you, so it certainly wouldn’t be an easy thing to do.”

The council hopes to reduce its reliance on private rentals by a further 50 homes by expanding its affordable new build development programme, including the Queens Drive regeneration.