AMID a mounting cost of putting up the homeless in budget hotels, Stroud’s council is looking to buy somewhere in the district to temporarily house families instead.

Budget stats released last week reveal Stroud District Council has overspent its temporary accommodation budget by 240 per cent, with housing committee chair councillor Chas Townley partly blaming the council’s “unsustainable” regime of relying on Travelodge-style hotels.

Residents are put into such hotels - sometimes out-of-county - as emergency accommodation when they are deemed homeless in what is meant to be a temporary move.

The budget for temporary accommodation is set at £50,000 but is currently overspent to the tune of £172,000 - the authority also faces a shortage of social housing while 3,000 families sit on the waiting list.

As an alternative to hotels, the council is considering buying and converting an existing property within the district.

It is not clear yet what this property might be.

The council’s housing committee will consider the option to find a property to buy at a meeting this evening.

Stroud District Council Housing Committee Chair Chas Townley said: “Our housing advice team has been recognised for their very effective work to prevent homelessness. Early contact with the council can help to prevent or delay homelessness, often to a point where a new home can be found without needing temporary accommodation.

“However where we need to temporarily accommodate people in travel lodge-style hotels and bed and breakfast facilities outside the district, that isn’t sustainable financially – the temporary accommodation budget of £50,000 is currently overspent.

“And accommodating homeless households away from where they work, go to school and have family and friends can be detrimental as well.

“Where it is necessary to provide temporary accommodation – often whilst an application under the homelessness legislation is assessed – we are seeking to provide clean and safe accommodation in the district to improve access to support networks, schooling and employment.

“This is against a backdrop of a shortage of social housing in the district – there are around 3,000 families on the waiting list for a council house. We are the only council in Gloucestershire to control our housing stock of just over 5,100 – and we are nearing the end of a major £19million project to build 236 new council homes. But we want to be able to borrow more money from Government so we can build even more and cut that waiting list significantly.”

Meanwhile, Gloucester City Council recently approved plans to award landlords a lump sum of money for taking on the district’s homeless and giving them a home.

A report, presented to the authority’s cabinet, similarly said that there is a “reliance” on temporary accommodation hotels which is “costly and unsustainable”.

The waiting list for social housing in Gloucester currently stands at nearly 4,000.