English councils pay private landlords millions in incentives to house homeless families

"Councils across England are increasingly spending millions of pounds a year in incentive payments to private landlords to persuade them to house homeless families, with campaigners describing it as a senseless waste of public money. Data gathered by the campaign group Generation Rent via freedom of information requests showed that 37 councils spent more than 31m on one-off cash payments to private landlords on 10,792 occasions in 2024-25."

"The soaring cost of renting and the government's decision to freeze the local housing allowance has put councils across the country in a near impossible position. In a desperate bid to avoid placing people in temporary accommodation, they're forced to pay individual landlords sometimes tens of thousands of pounds just for them to agree to rent out their home. It's a senseless waste of our public money."

"Manchester city council spent the most on landlord incentives, spending 3.3m in 2024-25, with Enfield council in north London spending 2.7m, Ealing council in west London spending 2.3m and Birmingham city council spending 1.7m. Many of these local authorities are facing budget deficits and pushing through cuts to services and council tax hikes. Manchester city council reported an 18m budget gap earlier this year, while Birmingham city council made the largest cuts in local authority history after declaring itself effectively bankrupt."

Local councils are increasingly paying one-off cash incentives to private landlords to secure accommodation for homeless families. Thirty-seven councils made a total of more than 31m in such payments on 10,792 occasions in 2024-25, targeting London and the councils with the largest statutory homelessness pressures. London council spending on landlord incentives rose 54% since 2018. Top spenders included Manchester (3.3m), Enfield (2.7m), Ealing (2.3m) and Birmingham (1.7m). Rising rents and a frozen local housing allowance are forcing councils to offer large sums to landlords. Many councils face budget deficits and service cuts while using incentives to avoid temporary accommodation.

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