A South London council paid housing company bosses £2 million last year as they built just 20 new council homes. A total of 25 top earners at council-owned developer Homes for Lambeth were paid at least £2,075,000, Lambeth Council's draft accounts have revealed.

The figure is possibly higher as exact figures weren't provided and the lower estimate has been used. One member of staff at the housing company that Lambeth set-up in 2017 was paid at least £145,000.

A total of 25 Homes for Lambeth staff were paid an annual salary of £50,000 in 2021/22, six more than over the same period the year before. The 19 staff on more than £50,000 a year in 2020/21 were paid at least £1.6 million in total.

Lambeth Council began building homes through its wholly-owned housing company Homes for Lambeth in 2017 following changes to government funding. Over 38,000 people are waiting for a council home in the borough. More than 3,150 Lambeth families live in temporary accommodation, including 4,500 children.

Residents moved into 16 new council flats built by Homes for Lambeth on the Knight's Walk estate in Kennington in 2021. Another four council homes were completed at Hillside Gardens between Tulse Hill and Streatham Hill in 2020.

But Homes for Lambeth has created hundreds of other social-rent homes through deals with developers called Section 106 agreements. A total of 253 homes have been approved for construction by Homes for Lambeth in the borough, according to Lambeth Council's draft 2021/22 accounts.

Homes for Lambeth staff have been working out of WeWork Waterloo despite the council spending millions on new offices in Brixton which opened in 2018. Lambeth Council has refused to tell the Local Democracy Reporting service how much it has spent on the desk space at WeWork, arguing the information is "commercially confidential."

In April, the chief executive of Homes for Lambeth announced she was leaving the company after three years. Jitinder Takhar revealed she was leaving the £190,000 per year role to "recharge" on LinkedIn. Sandra Roebuck, the council's director of place and infrastructure, was appointed as interim chief executive of the company following her departure.

Lambeth Council and Homes for Lambeth have been contacted.