REPORTS of a council u-turn over its policy of rehousing families outside of the borough have been denied.

The BBC said today that the authority was suspending its practice of relocating council tenants to properties as far away as Luton and Walsall.

But in a statement to the Guardian, cabinet member for housing Cllr Marie Pye said the council will continue to rehouse residents outside of London.

She said the council was only suspending its procurement of further properties "for the time being".

But she admitted the policy had been "problematic" and that some procedures had been changed.

She said: "The council is introducing a more rigorous review process prior to offering accommodation in Walsall, giving greater levels of consideration to issues such as work, school and dependent family ties, so that we can be sure properties are only offered to wholly appropriate candidates.

"The council will only be offering properties in Walsall to homeless households who have little or no real connection to Waltham Forest.

"However, we will be asking people who already live in temporary accommodation locally whether they would like to consider the properties in Walsall and we would obviously support them if they decided on this option.

"Importantly, this would be entirely up to them."

The council announced in April it had also acquired housing in Walsall - 138 miles away from east London.

It came in the wake of controversy when Newham Council announced similar plans. It said it would re-house up to 500 families in Stoke-on Trent.

The authority claimed it could no longer afford to house council tenants locally and said a cap on housing benefit had increased demand as people were forced to move out of boroughs with high rents.

But ministers said a fund of £190m is available to help councils, and that families can still claim up to £21,000 a year towards rent.

Critics accused Labour-controlled Newham Council of "social cleansing" and trying to score political points.

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