Pushed into a corner by soaring prices, greedy landlords and a cap on benefits, one London council has embarked on a daring set of untested policies to provide more public housing

The parks department once used Bury Street West as a store for lawnmowers and to wash out wheelie bins. Soon it will form part of the council’s first programme of housebuilding for 30 years.

Enfield  is funding the developments itself, holding on to the land, and retaining control of all building. And it’s doing this by, effectively, taking out a socking great mortgage and constructing private homes to rent, which will pay for its new council homes. As with the properties it’s buying, the stock will be owned by the council through a new company – which is not legally obliged to offer the right to buy.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/sep/01/enfield-experiment-housing-problem-radical-solution

Hopefully it works giving tenants some security as well as bringing down the housing benefit bill