00:00An East London borough has warned it is close to facing bankruptcy over spiralling homelessness and private rental costs.
00:07Newham Town Hall is facing considerable financial pressures because of its temporary accommodation bill for homeless families
00:14and without support it could face an unprecedented budget gap of £175m by 2026.
00:22The council is forecasting a £40m overspend in this financial year on top of the £22m in 2023 because of the rising cost of rent.
00:33Newham is currently supporting around 6,500 families in temporary accommodation and has more than 38,000 households on its social housing waiting list.
00:44The town hall blames the high reliance on the private rental sector and with a declining number of properties,
00:49a 35% fall in council housing stock and benefits not keeping up with inflation.
00:55They say its temporary accommodation bill was the sole reason for the overspend and that without it the budget would be balanced.
01:03Analysis by London councils show the capital's town halls collectively spend £90m a month on temporary accommodation.
01:10This is up by almost 40% on last year.
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