Redbridge Council is set to overspend on its current budget by £27million despite a string of cuts across multiple departments.
By the end of the financial year, the town hall will be facing a total overspend of £31m, but this is expected to drop by around £4m through a series of “costed mitigations”.
They include healthcare cuts, new planning fees, rent hikes, and increased parking tolls, as agreed last year.
The council says the forecast deficit is “of grave concern” and has mainly been caused “once again” by the costs of handling social care and homelessness.
It is facing a £23.5m overspend in its ‘place’ directorate, which covers housing, and £28.2m in its ‘people’ directorate, which covers public health, social care and education.
Despite the council’s plans to cut its costs, there is a growing number of families relying on temporary accommodation.
There were 2,836 living in hotels or other bed-and-breakfast (B&B) style accommodation between March and May 2025, slightly up from the 2,830 reported in late 2024. The council said the figure has remained “relatively stable” in an October report, which “bucks the trend for London”.
In order to balance next year’s budget, the town hall will have to draw on a “substantial proportion of its reserves”.
Council leaders have historically blamed the central government’s “unfair” funding formula for the weak financial position, which is based on data from 2010.
In July, deputy leader Vanisha Solanki, who oversees the borough’s finances, said the “fundamental inequalities” in how the money is distributed meant Redbridge had a “structural disadvantage”.
She said council services were “efficient” but that “can only take us so far”.
Redbridge is the fourth-lowest funded London borough per head, based on a government formula unchanged since 2010.
Councils receive 22% of their total funds from the government, while 54% comes from council tax. Redbridge councillors voted to raise council tax in February by 4.99% and will likely do so again next year.
But despite the woeful forecast, the town hall is in a better position than it was in May. Figures from the summer showed the council was on track to overspend by £45m, due to similar pressures on temporary accommodation and social care.
The report will go before top councillors at a cabinet meeting next week.
