Sector tensions between the North and South over out-of-area placements have prompted the Local Government Association (LGA) to form a working group to address the issue.
The group was created after Hartlepool Council's chief executive Denise McGuckin wrote to LGA boss Joanna Killian highlighting the problem of councils, such as London boroughs, placing families in the northern unitary without letting them know.
It comes as councils continue to struggle with severe housing pressures, exacerbated by Home Office efforts to move newly-arrived refugees out of asylum hotels.
High housing costs and low supply in the South have forced some councils to move people North to areas with lower costs and more availability.
McGuckin told The MJ: ‘A number of North East authorities are finding families that have literally been given six months' rent. If you can give someone six or seven grand and they've got a few months' rent in Hartlepool then the duty is discharged.
‘And they're not doing anything illegal. And I'm not saying, if I was in their position, I wouldn't do the same.'
McGuckin said the ‘vast majority' of North East councils had experienced similar issues.
Among the 21 councils involved in the working group are the North East authorities of Gateshead, Hartlepool, North Tyneside, Northumberland and Stockton, and the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Enfield and Redbridge.
An LGA spokesperson said: ‘The working group, which has already met twice and will be looking to meet again, was set up to explore how to mitigate the effects of out-of-area placements and address potential barriers to good practice.
‘Councils are under mounting pressure to find suitable homes for an ever-increasing number of people. With council waiting lists at a record high – 1.3 million households – there simply aren't enough social homes for the people who need them, in the places they need them.
‘The only way to reduce homelessness and tackle housing waiting lists is by councils having the powers and resources to build more of the genuinely affordable homes our communities desperately need.'
McGuckin said only one council had informed her authority that they had moved families to Hartlepool despite deputy prime minister Angela Rayner warning councils they needed to do this.
The Hartlepool chief said placing authorities should also keep some responsibility for families after they have moved, adding: ‘We've had a family come with three children with SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] and we've had to pick all that up.'
