3:18pm Thursday 11th March 2010
By Elizabeth Pears
HOMELESS Haringey residents are being pushed towards private landlords to reduce the demand for council houses.
Haringey Council housing bosses said it had to look at "alternatives" to council housing to prevent people from sitting on the temporary housing register for years at a time.
In November 2008, 4,800 households were living in temporary accommodation and between 2007 and 2008, only 58 per cent of new applications were able to be permanently housed.
The council is under huge pressure to meet Government targets to reduce these numbers.
Councillor John Bevan (Labour/Northumberland Park), cabinet member for Housing, environment and conservation, said: "It is time we reminded people that there are lots of alternatives to council housing and we can help them access these alternatives. We work with good landlords across the borough who are prepared to offer good quality housing for those in need.
"It's no longer a case of having to spend a long time in temporary housing. Now we will help find good homes in the private sector as well as providing support to prevent homelessness in the first place."
A 60-second film, made by the housing office, will be broadcast in Wood Green Shopping City a minimum of 500 times as part of a community roadshow to show residents what options they have.
Housing staff and landlords from partner agencies appear in the film to inform shoppers of the different housing schemes and accommodation options available.
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