The winning boroughs in the government’s £30 million project to help families move from temporary accommodation into settled homes have been announced.

The Settled Homes Initiative will see the boroughs of Brent, Bromley, Ealing, Hackney and Westminster offered the opportunity to buy 900 homes to convert into social housing through the use of housing benefit money.

It is hoped that the project will provide families forced to live in unsettled and expensive private accommodation with a stable home.

The minister for housing, Yvette Cooper, said: "This new funding means councils will be able to do more to help London families who have been homeless move into a settled home."

She added that the project will also allow "families to put down roots in the community and help them to overcome the barriers to work and education that people in temporary accommodation often face".

A total of 20 bids were submitted from London boroughs for the funding.