Homeless people in Oxford could be offered "attractive" packages to get out of town.

The suggestion is one of a range of measures being looked at by the city council after a disturbing report on the growing crisis.

The idea would be to offer a deal to the homeless for them to move somewhere else in the country, where housing is available.

The city's housing committee yesterday agreed the plan should be looked at initially on a voluntary basis. Officers were asked to report back later this year. The issue was not discussed in detail but Cllr Xanthe Bevis said: "I don't think we could possibly make it compulsory for people to leave Oxford because they can't afford to live here."

The committee is also considering other measures, including:

*charging homeless people the full cost of temporary accommodation;

*housing the homeless in more of the council's housing stock;

*switching to properties outside the city boundary; and *asking big businesses such as Rover for help.

Council leader John Tanner said: "We have a housing crisis and our job is to manage it as best we can."

Each year the council receives about 1,000 applications to go on the homeless register, with 40 per cent accepted.

The council admits it needs 2,000 "units" of social housing and 2,000 private, just to stand still. But it has fewer than 100 empty properties in the city.

Almost £2m will be spent this year on bed and breakfast for the homeless, with the strategy and resources committee releasing £780,000 yesterday. Across the country, average spending on homelessness per head of population is £1.20. In Oxford the figure is £18.30.

Story date: Wednesday 03 November

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