Hounslow Council plans to spend £53.5m on new homes in a bid to address the borough's growing homelessness crisis.

The council says evictions due to rising rents and the impact of the benefit cap have contributed to a 64% increase over the last three years in homelessness and severe housing need.

There are now 1,086 households in temporary accommodation, including 106 in B&Bs, and the waiting list for a council house has passed the 10,000 mark.

The council plans to purchase up to 175 homes through its commercial arm Lampton 360 to provide shelter for the increasing numbers of households struggling to afford private accommodation.

The council says it is spending £47,000 a week placing people in temporary accommodation in B&Bs or private housing, contributing to a budget deficit of £3.7m.

That is despite having reduced bed & breakfast placements from a high of 335 just three years ago.

'Inexorable rise in homelessness'

In a report due to go before cabinet members on Tuesday, April 26, housing chief Councillor Katherine Dunne writes: "Hounslow, as with many other councils, is experiencing an inexorable rise in the number of households in severe housing need and homelessness, which has increased by over 64% over the past three years.

"Further national policy changes and welfare reforms are set to exacerbate increases. Alongside this, we continue to experience severe shortages of affordable private sector properties.

Hounslow Council says more and more people are being made homeless as landlords hike their rents

"The significant and growing deficit in temporary accommodation costs the council continues to face is the unavoidable consequence of this imbalance between rising homelessness and supply shortages."

Her solution is for the council's commercial arm Lampton 360 to spend £53.5m over the next three years securing 175 homes, with the investment to be paid off using the rent achieved from those properties.

450 new council homes set for completion

In the short term, the plan, should it be approved by cabinet members, is also to use vacant council properties to provide temporary accommodation for those most in need.

In the long-term the council plans to redevelop these sites to create more affordable housing.

Cllr Dunne also sets out plans in her report for the council to work more closely with struggling families to address their housing issues before they are made homeless, which she says would help reduce its bill for temporary accommdation.

A total of 450 new council homes across the borough are set for completion over the next two years, according to the council, which it says should help ease the pressure.

The report comes after the council was last year ordered to compensate a homeless woman fleeing domestic violence for the unacceptable delay in finding her a permanent home.

getwestlondon reported last year how more than 250 homeless people in Hounslow had been placed in temporary accommodation outside the borough .