Lewisham Council is expected to spend £5 million buying homes for the homeless and resettled refugee families.

Officers have set out plans for a £5 million loan for Lewisham Homes, the council’s housing company, which is expected to be approved by the mayor and cabinet.

Lewisham Homes will manage the social housing and pay off the loan’s interest with local housing allowance from the tenants, according to council documents.

Lewisham Homes is the council-owned limited company which manages council housing stock and builds social housing.

The extra homes are expected to save the council from forking out on expensive bed and breakfast emergency accommodation, the documents explain.

This comes as the the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation in the borough rises, increasing by 40 per cent over the last five years.

More than 2,100 households are in temporary accommodation, 600 of which are put into bed and breakfast accommodation.

This also comes as Lewisham pledges to resettle 100 Syrian refugee families in addition to the 16 already in borough, as part of a five year government program.

The council takes responsibility for the families from when they land at the airport and must provide housing for them at the local housing allowance rate.

The council will also supply basic package of goods for the families.

“Families will typically arrive with few possessions, so part of the housing provision involves ensuring a basic package of goods are ready for the family on arrival,” the documents explain.

The mayor and cabinet agreed to loan Lewisham Homes £20m in 2015 to buy properties to use as temporary accommodation.

As of December 2018, Lewisham Homes bought 152 properties and are continuing negotiations on further properties.

Housing market uncertainty meant the loan could not be bigger.

As well as buying homes, the council is working with nightly paid providers to get a better rate, the documents continue.

Lewisham is also looking for properties not on the market to let to refugee families.