As part of its drive to keep use of hotels and B&Bs for temporary accommodation to an absolute minimum.
The cost of housing a family in B&B accommodation, including travel costs for any children eligible for transport to school, can be up to £90 per night.
But at present there is just one household in a hotel/B&B accommodation throughout the whole of Milton Keynes.
As part of its ongoing commitment to tackle the local housing shortage – which echoes the national crisis – the council has joined forces with local developers, to lease 38 flats in Queensway House in Bletchley, following extensive refurbishment.
Cllr Nigel Long, Cabinet Member responsible for tackling homelessness, said:
“We are really pleased with the work that is being done to support our families into permanent housing, however there is more that we can do and we need additional support from all housing providers and local landlords to assist with long term housing solutions.”
A spokesman for the developers said:
“We really do feel that this has been a positive engagement and it has definitely helped us to achieve our stated goal of "Building lives with quality homes".
Previously some 179 families were living in hotels (b&b) – with some as far away as Nottingham and Reading.
MKC no longer uses hotels/B&Bs outside of Milton Keynes, except in case of dire emergency and even then for a maximum of three nights.
The Council has also significantly reduced the overall number of families occupying temporary accommodation from 805 households in June 2017 to 641 households last week.
The vast majority of these households (92%) are now living in the Milton Keynes area as opposed to 78% previously living outside of MK.
