A council is set to buy up hundreds of homes to be used as temporary accommodation for the homeless and those in need.

Medway Council plans to invest £42 million into 150 properties around the Towns to house rough sleepers and those at risk of losing their homes.

The local authority says the growing number of people in need of the service is putting greater pressure on council coffers.

The idea is the authority will operate the temporary accommodation rather than forking out funds to private landlords, as it presently does.

It's hoped this will reduce costs and drive up standards in the maintenance of properties, as well as making the Town’s ability to house people less susceptible to changes in the private rented sector

Medway Council’s portfolio holder for housing and property, Cllr Naushabah Khan (Lab), said the move was an innovative approach to a growing issue across the country.

She said: “This is not something that is unique to Medway, however it is certainly something that Medway is looking at in a more proactive way and is looking to find a solution to that means our reliance on the private rented sector is lessened.”

The proposal received cross-party support with Conservative members praising the change as it would provide the council with an asset and would mean the authority could ensure the temporary accommodation was of high quality.

Cllr Howard Doe (Con) said: “I believe that if we do this we’ll have a number of really good benefits out of it and it will really help those lower-income groups.

“When we engage temporary accommodation at the moment we don’t do it on our terms, we do it on the landlords terms, what this will do is give us control.

“Also, what it would do is mean we can apply really good standards for accommodation and give certainty to the people who need it.”

Medway faces increasing rates of homelessness, with 3,828 requests for assistance in 2022/23, an increase of 42% from 2020/21, and this trend is expected to continue.

To meet the rising demand and make money go further, officers have recommended the authority buy properties rather than renting private accommodation to house people in need.

In January 2023, the council agreed to test the scheme and bought 20 properties, costing £5.6 million.

The latest plans were approved at a cabinet meeting earlier this month and were put forward to be approved by all members at a full council meeting held last Wednesday (January 24).

The proposal, which was agreed unanimously, will see the expansion of this scheme, buying 150 further properties, as well as leases for another 150 and the setting up of an agency within the council to manage them.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Khan added: "These are going to be for Medway families who find they might not have a roof over their heads.

“It will give us [Medway Council] the opportunity and flexibility, where we’re currently relying on the private rented sector, to manage that ourselves.

“It gives us the opportunity to better support Medway residents when we are dealing with homelessness and housing.”

Cllr Khan said they were looking at a pipeline of purchasing the homes but the council would be acting cautiously so as not to inflate house prices by buying them all at once.