Reading council has responded to news that revealed dozens of homeless households from Oxford have been moved into the town.
When someone presents as homeless to a local authority, that council has a duty to help them find somewhere to stay, which usually involves providing them with emergency or temporary accommodation.
They will then stay there until longer-term social housing can be found.
Sometimes, if temporary accommodation cannot be found in the council’s area, the households will be sent outside of the area.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Oxford City Council recently revealed that 34 households were moved to temporary accommodation in Reading Borough in 2024/25.
The FOI by Local Democracy Reporter Esmé Kenney also found that 45 households had been sent to High Wycombe, and two households were sent to temporary accommodation provision in Slough.
In light of the information, Reading Borough Council was asked how it has the capacity to deal with homeless households from Oxford City when it has its own homelessness problem.
According to council data, the number of households presenting as homeless in Reading increased in 2024/25, with 402 households using temporary accommodation at the end of March 2025.
That was an 18 per cent increase from the previous year 2023/24, with a significant portion of these households, 74 per cent (299 households), including children.
The council was also asked what support, if any, Reading Borough receives from Oxford City to mitigate the impact of the policy.
A spokesperson clarified that hotels and B&Bs are used as a form of temporary accommodation, rather than the council’s housing stock.
The spokesperson said: “The council’s focus remains solely on looking after people in need within Reading, who we owe a duty towards.
“We do not assist other local authorities in sourcing hotel accommodation.
“Any out of area hotel accommodation sourced by other local authorities is a direct arrangement between themselves and the private hotel provider.
“Where those instances do arise, the only interaction with Reading Borough Council is the requirement to notify us as the host authority.”
The figure for how much Reading council spent on temporary accommodation in 2024/25 is not available yet.
The council spent approximately £2.8 million on temporary housing in 2023/24, with the total cost over three years (2021-2024) reaching nearly £5.2 million.
While the amount Oxford City Council spent on temporary accommodation for homeless households in 2023/24 is not explicitly stated, reports indicate the city council had an overspend of £1.5 million on its Housing Services budget due to temporary accommodation costs in that year.
Reading council identified 57 people sleeping rough on its last official count in November last year.
