WHATEVER you think of Oxford City Council, it would be hard to deny it’s serious about tackling homelessness.

To spend £10 million on anything in the middle of the seemingly endless economic crisis is impressive.

And that is on top of a noteworthy record – in the past nine years it has cut the number of people in temporary accommodation by nearly 90 per cent.

We all know how expensive a place this city is to live in, so it is no surprise many people struggle to live here.

Homelessness in all it forms creates a cost to all of us, so to be able to address it with new homes is welcome.

But we have concerns about the inevitable consequences of the council’s actions, however well intentioned.

The council wants to buy up to 55 homes to provide temporary accommodation.

This scheme does not involve building new properties – something that Oxford sorely needs – so that means taking 55 properties off the open market.

That will reduce the number of homes available, which will mean people are chasing fewer properties, potentially pushing prices up.

So when a struggling young family or single person tries to get on the property ladder it will be that much harder.

If they can no longer afford to buy, the worst case scenario is that this scheme could actually lead to more homelessness, not less.

Perhaps that’s overly pessimistic. Let’s just hope the council has properly thought this through.