Nearly 200 ‘homeless households’ have been relocated to Medway from Bromley in just over a year, it has been revealed.

Bromley Council says a total of 189 households were moved to the Towns – more than 20 miles away – in the space of 16 months, between January 2017 and April 2018, due to a housing shortage in the area.

The number is described as “relatively small” by the London borough authority.

But Cllr Howard Doe (Con), Medway Council’s portfolio holder for housing and community services, says such moves add extra pressure on the Towns’ already limited accommodation stock.

He said: “Although the local authorities retain the responsibility for families they place in Medway, it does increase the demand on our local services, from education to health care.

“Local authorities do not always have to advise us if they are accommodating someone in our area, so we are never fully aware of the exact number of families placed by other authorities in Medway.

“This can make it difficult to plan for the support services we may need to provide to families moved into Medway.

“We understand that there is a demand for housing across the country, but our priority is to ensure the needs of our residents are met.”

Medway Council has regularly complained about other local authorities snapping up housing stock in the Towns to cater for their own shortfalls.

Cllr Peter Morgan (Con), executive councillor for renewal, recreation and housing in Bromley, said: “We have provided accommodation for a relatively small proportion of homeless people outside the borough for some years now, in areas relatively near the borough, including in Kent.

“This practice, in common with many other councils, has meant that more people are prevented from being homeless as quickly as possible.

“We understand that there is a demand for housing across the country, but our priority is to ensure the needs of our residents are met" - Cllr Howard Doe

“Our aim is to see homeless people moving into good quality homes on a longer term basis and, as part of this, we are seeing families keen to take up this accommodation on a more settled basis.”

Cllr Angela Wilkins (Lab), Bromley Council’s Labour group leader, described a home in Medway as being “like gold dust” for some families relocated from Bromley.

If a local housing authority provides accommodation to ‘homeless households’, they must give written notice to the authority as to where they are being homed within 14 days of the placement.

However, there is no legal requirement to do so under other duties – such as those set out in the Children Act.