MORE families than ever before are living in temporary housing in Southend.

A Southend Council monthly performance report highlighted the worrying tally of “households” in temporary accommodation.

Latest figures showed it peaked at 116 families last November.

To put this into context over the past 20 months, the average number of households has been 91.

Labour councillor Ian Gilbert, a member of the policy and resources committee, said the council really needed to up its game - and meet demand.

He said: “One of the major factors affecting our residents is the housing market, of that I have no doubt.

“London has had a big impact on our housing prices and more and more people just can’t afford a home of their own.

“When it was the Labour administration we started again to build council housing and we make sure developers meet this obligation when they’re building properties.

“There’s an argument that the more housing we have in the borough it will put a strain on our roads and infrastructure, but at the end of the day people need houses. They need somewhere to live.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the council, and it remains as our top priority.

“To be fair it’s a national problem and it’s London house prices that are driving ours through the roof. There’s a limit to what we can do.”

Mark Flewitt, councillor for housing, planning and sustainability, said Southend Council has been working proactively to tackle the ongoing problem - and had identified it as a key area of concern.

He said: “The Conservative government will be launching the Homelessness Reduction Act and it will be in effect in April.

“Local authorities have been given funding by the central government to reduce homelessness.

“The council will work on ways to deal with people in an earlier process before they become homeless.

“Rent prices have become buoyant in the borough because Southend is a property hotspot so this has driven up the housing market.

“The lack of available properties continues to be an impact on temporary accommodation occupancy and one of the reasons is the reduced availability of two-bedroom properties.”

Mr Flewitt said the council submitted a letter in December to central government to support an introduction rent controls on private sector landlords letting properties to tenants.

The council pointed out the unregulated rental market has made it increasingly difficult for residents to afford a place.

He said: “We are working with private landlords and agents to improve offers. We will do what we can to improve this situation as soon as possible.”