Enfield Borough Council is proposing to set up a company to help ease the demands on housing in the borough.

Recent figures have shown that the Government's ‘right to buy’ scheme has resulted in the council being unable to replace one council house with another - and that nearly half the council houses bought are now owned by private landlords.

Under the new proposals, the company would be able to buy new housing stock while being exempt from the 'right to buy' scheme, so its homes could not be bought unless the council chose to sell them.

Councillor Ahmet Oykener, cabinet member for housing, said: “We had two options, one is to sit back and watch the £3.4 million budget pressure for temporary accommodations continue to rise to £7 million or look at different ways we can increase social housing.

“Other local authorities have simply stopped this kind of service but that is something we will not do and this new system will be able to help people find employment quicker once they are in accommodation and helped move up the housing ladder.

"If agreed on Wednesday, this plan would allow Enfield Council to set up a local authority company to own housing stock that can be offered to residents in desperate need of housing while we find them an appropriate long term place to live."

The decision will be made at the council's council cabinet meeting on Wednesday, February 12.

In December 2013, Enfield had the 7th highest figure (2,188) of households in temporary accommodation in London.