Published: 2013 April 10 15:10:00 (3196 Views)

Council tenants could be handed £20,000 in cash to flee the country to help solve a housing shortage.

People living in the north-west London borough of Harrow are being offered the 'incentive' payments if they agree to move abroad.

The council is mooting the hand-outs after admitting to having one of the smallest housing stocks in the capital.

But councillors insist they have not yet rubber-stamped the idea, which has been raised in meetings with tenants' representatives.

Housing portfolio holder Bob Currie confirmed, though, that the incentives could be offered – though only to those residents already pondering moves abroad.

He said: 'One idea was the possibility of offering an incentive to tenants already considering moving abroad – for example to retire, or to move nearer to a relative.

'It would only be offered to people considering a move away and it would be entirely their choice.

'The council would not be doing its duty if it did not consider all sorts of different ideas to ensure we are able to provide the best housing options for our residents.'

Harrow says it has a housing stock of 5,000 properties and needs to consider options including the incentive scheme, as well as potentially moving tenants into smaller homes or privately-owned accommodation.

- Metro

Comment as Anonymous | Comment With Facebook Submit

Big Reads

© Copyright 2025 Zim Metro is not responsible for the content of external sites | Contact Us: editor@zimmetro.net | RSS Feeds | Sitemap