Ministers are considering measures to ban London councils from moving homeless families hundreds of miles away, a practice that has grown due to the housing crisis. The Guardian has learned that vulnerable people, including women fleeing domestic abuse, are being coerced into choosing between rough sleeping or moving to cheap, sparsely furnished properties in some of the poorest parts of the country.
Charities report that some domestic abuse victims have returned to their abusers rather than move north, while others are forced to live in emergency refuges. The practice has been condemned by MPs, with Florence Eshalomi, chair of the Commons housing select committee, urging ministers to consider a limit on the distance of out-of-area placements.
Homelessness minister Alison McGovern described the practice as a 'real worry' and said the government is prepared to 'clamp down on the worst form of it' following a review. Government guidance already states that out-of-area placements should not be determined by cost alone, but McGovern indicated that further action may be needed.
Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool, called for the law to be 'radically tightened', stating the policy is 'ripping at the social fabric' of his town. He said: 'It is not fair, it is not sustainable, and it is time it stopped.'
Several London councils have been found by the high court to have acted unlawfully in recent years. Housing lawyers, charities, and MPs say some councils routinely flout the law, paying millions to intermediary companies like Reloc8 to provide unfurnished flats over 200 miles away. Reloc8 has been paid about £2m by Croydon and Enfield councils.
Official figures show the number of homeless families moved out of London has doubled in two years, from 670 in 2023 to 1,300 in 2025, though the true figure is believed to be higher. London Councils said most out-of-London placements are to bordering counties and that it has met with north-east authorities to discuss the issue.
