Councils in London have spent more than £140million snapping up homes outside the city to relocate homeless people.  

Local authorities in the capital have acquired more than 850 properties across England since 2017, with many in the most deprived areas of the east and southeast of the country, The Guardian reported. 

Bizarrely, some London councils have already bought properties in the Midlands and are planning to send some people as far as Liverpool and the northeast. 

Officials identified 704 people living on the streets of the capital between October and December last year - a 26 per cent rise on the previous year.

Meanwhile, a total of 4,612 individuals were found to be sleeping rough, a five per cent increase on the year before.

People are deemed to be living on the streets if they have had been seen rough sleeping on several occasions over a period of three weeks or more. 

In order to deal with the scope of the problem, and faced with an extreme shortage of social housing and skyrocketing private rents, more than a dozen local authorities - and the housing companies they partially own - have invested heavily in property outside of London's boundaries. 

The non-London residences are used to house homeless individuals or families either as temporary emergency accommodation or permanently as a privately rented home. 

However, the policy of shipping homeless people in London elsewhere in the country is not always welcomed by local residents.

The majority of the acquired properties are in deprived regions of the east and southeast which already face challenges dealing with their own homeless populations. 

London councils have bought 84 homes for out-of-town accommodation in Basildon in Essex, which already has 700 households living in emergency accommodation. 

Between them, Waltham Forest and Bromley councils, by way of the the housing and social care company Mears Group, which they own, have spent nearly £80million on the acquisition of more than 500 homes in locations such as Harlow and Thurrock in Essex and Maidstone in Kent. 

Brent council has purchased more than 75 properties across Milton Keynes, Hemel Hempstead and Slough, at a cost of £18million.

Meanwhile Enfield council, via Housing Gateway - which they own - splurged £13million in 2018 to acquire a converted office block in Harlow which contains 83 flats used as temporary accommodation. 

Enfield council also plans to snap up 28 houses in Liverpool this year to use as temporary accommodation while it looks for permanent options for people on Merseyside. 

Likewise Barnet council has acquired almost 70 homes in Peterborough and Luton, while Redbridge council has purchased 55 properties at a cost of more than £10million, with some as far away as Coventry and Leicester. 

Naushabah Khan, the Labour MP for Gillingham and Rainham, who also sits on the housing committee, said the policy of relocating homless people was the result of a 'scarring legacy of a deeply damaged housing market' which meant that 'this last-resort practice has become the norm.'

Housing charities have warned about the catastrophic impact out-of-town relocations can have on families. 

Polly Neate, the chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said: 'While the bill on the housing emergency continues to rocket, families are paying the ultimate price. 

'On top of the trauma of becoming homeless, families' lives are being thrown into further turmoil by being moved miles away from their communities, often overnight.

'Councils are meant to accommodate families who become homeless in their own area, but a dire shortage of social homes, extortionate private rents, and record homelessness is making this increasingly difficult. 

'As a result, families are being moved to places where they have no support network, and face tiring and expensive journeys to work or their children’s schools.

'Instead of sinking money into temporary solutions, we need to see social homes built in areas where they are most needed. 

'The government must use the June Spending Review to invest in 90,000 social homes a year for ten years – this would save the taxpayer money, boost jobs, improve children’s life chances and end homelessness for good.'

MailOnline has contacted London Councils for comment.