Lewisham Council's Housing Select Committee has scrutinised proposals for £2 million in annual savings for the borough's homelessness service, with councillors stating they could not agree on the report without further information.
The Housing Select Committee met on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, to discuss the council's budget reduction proposals for 2027-28. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to the proposed £2 million annual savings target for the homelessness service, which is part of a wider council-wide budget pressure of £40 million.
Modesta Anucha, Director of Housing Strategy, presented the report, outlining measures such as improving front-door management, upstreaming homelessness prevention, managing the temporary accommodation (TA) portfolio, and the Housing Acquisition Programme (HAP).
Councillor Natalie Thomas, Cabinet Member for Safer Homes, Homelessness and Housing Services, provided political context, highlighting the broken funding system
and a £21 million annual subsidy gap for temporary accommodation in Lewisham. She stressed that we will never compromise on quality
.
Councillor Thomas stated that 'the subsidy gap is now £21 million every year. So that £21 million is putting our entire council's finances into the red.' She also highlighted that until temporary accommodation is adequately funded by central government and profiteering from councils like us, fulfilling what is a legal duty is addressed, this council and our residents will have to bear the cuts to our budgets.
However, councillors raised concerns about the arbitrary nature of the £2 million target. Councillor Robin McGhee expressed concern about the £2 million a year of savings and questioned how such a definitive savings figure could be reached.
Councillor El Fry raised concerns about the equalities screening of the budget proposals, arguing that the evidence gathered was not being used to inform the conclusions. Officers responded that mitigating actions were in place to address potential impacts on protected characteristics.
The committee noted that they could not agree to the report without further information and recommended that officers expand on the current report and cuts for further discussion at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on November 18. Additional recommendations included a six-month update on the progress of any cuts, earlier involvement in the cuts process, and quality control of private rental referrals.
Public reports pack 04th-Nov-2026 19.00 Housing Select Committee