The Wandsworth Borough Council Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet on 27 November 2025 to discuss the Cleaner Borough Plan, temporary accommodation demographics, and the committee's work programme. The meeting will provide updates on key initiatives and allow committee members to shape future priorities.

Temporary Accommodation Demographics

The committee is scheduled to receive information on temporary accommodation (TA) in Wandsworth. The report pack includes a slide deck that covers:

• The legal obligations of councils to provide temporary accommodation.
• Current usage of temporary accommodation.
• The types and locations of temporary accommodation being used.
• Demographic information about residents in temporary accommodation.
• Expenditure challenges related to temporary accommodation across London.
• Relevant statutory guidance.
• The effects of temporary accommodation on children.

The report states that councils have a legal duty to provide temporary accommodation to priority need homeless households. It notes that the homelessness crisis has worsened dramatically over the last decade, leading to an all-time high in the use of temporary accommodation nationally, across London, and in Wandsworth.

According to the report pack, statistics from June 2025 show a total of 132,410 households in England are in temporary accommodation provided by local authorities, with 74,720 of those households located in London.

The report also provides a breakdown of the types of temporary accommodation used by Wandsworth Council:

• Nightly Paid/licensed (General Fund)
• Private leasing scheme (General Fund)
• Council owned (all types including hostels) (Housing Revenue Account)
• Other including no cost (General Fund)

The report pack notes that the average time spent in temporary accommodation for those rehoused in 2024/25 was 43 months, while the average across current occupants of temporary accommodation is 27 months.

Demographic data in the report pack indicates that, of the households in temporary accommodation in Wandsworth:

• 2,755 are female-headed households
• 1,837 are male-headed households
• 492 are aged 18-24
• 1,349 are aged 25-34
• 2,229 are aged 35-54
• 521 are aged 55 and over

The report pack also includes data on the ethnicity of those in temporary accommodation, and the number of children in temporary accommodation.

The report pack highlights the financial challenges faced by London boroughs in providing temporary accommodation. It notes that London boroughs collectively face a funding gap of at least £700 million in the financial year 2025-26 and that London's worsening homelessness emergency represents the single biggest risk to boroughs' finances.

Cleaner Borough Plan Phase Two

The committee is scheduled to discuss the Cleaner Borough Plan Phase Two. The Cleaner Borough Plan was introduced to improve waste collection and street cleaning services in Wandsworth.

Phase One of the Cleaner Borough Plan was rolled out in April 2024, guaranteeing weekly waste collections, replacing waste trucks, expanding Mega Skip provision and rolling out free food waste collections for low rise properties. As a result, the report pack claims that recycling rates have increased to 29.27%, and that £1.3m waste disposal savings have been reinvested into making streets cleaner.

Phase Two of the Cleaner Borough Plan was approved in October 2024. The report pack claims that as a result of Phase Two:

• Missed bin collections have reduced to an average of 79.66 per 100,000 in Q2.
• Mega Skips have expanded further with additional skips in place at popular locations.
• Over 20,000 free bulky waste collections have been booked by residents.
• There are more street cleanses and bins are emptied more often resulting 20% more street cleansing tonnage being collected in Q1 25/26 and 9.5% more in Q2 25/26. In the same period there was a 18% and 16% reduction in reported fly-tipping, respectively.
• 35 new litterbins, placed where residents said they were needed the most

The report pack also notes that improving waste and recycling management on the council's housing estates is a key priority, and that since the range of improvement measures was agreed:

• Just under 1,000 new bins and 200 new bin enclosures have been installed.
• Bin locations have been reviewed and changed to ensure that bins are located as conveniently for residents as is practicable
• Signage and enclosure have been updated and refreshed.

The report pack details several initiatives under the Cleaner Borough Plan Phase Two, including:

• Food waste rollout: As of September 2025, around 101,000 households are receiving weekly food waste collections. The report pack states that all council managed properties will have access to a separate food waste collection by mid-December 2025, and Flats Above Shops properties are on schedule to get their food waste collection service before April 2026.
• Weekly waste collections: The council has worked to address an increase in missed collections following the introduction of separate rubbish and recycling rounds and food waste collections.
• Crackdown on fly-tipping: The council has increased penalties for fly-tipping offences and invested in dedicated fly tipping monitoring capacity. The report pack claims that between April and September 2025 18,274 fly tipping enforcements have been issued.
• Mega Skips: The council has continued to provide Mega Skips in 14 locations over two Saturdays each month.
• Bulky Waste: Since January 2025, the council has offered two free bulky waste collections per year for every household.
• Cleaner town centres: The council has increased the frequency of cleansing in town centres and commenced a programme of pavement washing.
• Pride in our estates: The council has undertaken work to increase rubbish and recycling storage capacity on its housing estates.

Housing OSC Work Programme

The committee is scheduled to discuss its work programme for the remainder of the year. The report pack outlines the following items for future meetings:

• 21 January 2026: Housing Services Activity Report and Rent Setting + Fees and Charges
• 21 January 2026: Social Housing Improvement Task and Finish Group - to receive the final report of the Task and Finish Group before the pre-election period.

The report pack also includes an interim report from the Social Housing Improvement Task and Finish Group, which was established to follow the C3 grading by the Regulator of Social Housing¹ following their inspection in late 2024. The task and finish group includes Councillor Kate Stock, Councillor Finna Ayres, Councillor Sarah Davies, Councillor Ravi Govindia and Councillor Mrs. Angela Graham.