THE HOUSING crisis in Reading is only going to get worse, with more and more families trapped in Bed and Breakfast accommodation, the council's property chief has revealed.

John Ennis blasted the government's stance on affordable housing after it was revealed 290 families, including young children, were left in B&Bs for more than six weeks last year.

Reading Borough Council forks out nearly £1,000 per month for each family to live in emergency accommodation, which is often far away from schools.

And with more people choosing Reading as a prime destination to live and work, Cllr Ennis urged the government to pump more funds into affordable housing.

But the government insists it expects RBC to reduce the amount of time families spend in temporary accommodation in the same way which other authorities have,

It's a housing crisis," he asserted.

"People want to come here and work here but they cannot afford it.

"We have invested every penny we can find in affordable housing. Last year it was around £26m but that is a drop in the ocean for a town like ours.

"The government is not interested and we are feeling the pinch more than many other towns.

"We don't want to see our families living on the streets.

"We can't build the houses we want to but we are trying to."

The number of families living in B&Bs rose by four percent last year.

In 2009 the council's bill for emergency accommodation was just £13,269 but by 2016 it was closer to £1.6m.

Cllr Ennis added: "We would love to be able to build loads of council houses.

"But we are having to sell them and that diminishes our stock.

"Putting families in B&Bs is a big cost which we are trying to control.

"We did reduce it for a bit but it has gone back up now.

"It's only going to get worse unless we are able to get more finances to build affordable houses.

"We need to build council houses and affordable houses without the government throwing numerous obstacles in the way."

Despite Cllr Ennis's accusations, the government insists plenty of funds is being pumped into tackling homelessness.

A spokesman said: “Temporary accommodation helps make sure that families always have a roof over their heads in an emergency.

"There are councils successfully reducing the amount of time families spend in temporary accommodation, and we expect other areas to follow their example.

“We’re also investing £550 million to 2020 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes bringing in measures as part of the Homelessness Reduction Act which requires councils to give support to people earlier and prevent them becoming homeless in the first place.”