Bromley Council spent £28,000 per month housing a child taken into care in an unregulated home, about which serious concerns have been raised, it is claimed.

A BBC Newsnight investigation into supported accommodation, housing which provides additional support for young people working towards independence, reported claims from children placed in a Birmingham property that they were often short of food and sometimes not given bedding.

A child was placed in the Rodor Housing and Support Limited home by Bromley Council, at a cost significantly higher than other boroughs.

Walsall Council is reported to have paid £2,000 per month to house a 16-year-old there, while Merton Council is reported to have paid £3,600 per month to house another teen.

The home accommodated up to six children in self contained units, with one or two staff based in an office on the ground floor minding the building.

One former resident, Paige Brookes, told Newsnight she moved into the home when she was 16, and was not given bedding on her first night.

She said: "I had to call my boyfriend's dad who had to drive from Solihull to Birmingham at about 11 o'clock at night and we had to drive around trying to find somewhere open to get bedding, pots, pans, cleaning stuff."

Another, who is under 16 so couldn’t be named, said she slept under a thin blanket and coat for her first ten nights in the home.

She further claimed that she was expected to do her own food shopping and cooking despite lacking adequate equipment.

Whilst staff are not expected to cook for the children, they are expected to help guide them towards independence.

Supported accommodation is unregulated, meaning the homes do not have to be registered or inspected by Ofsted.

Newsnight reports that more than 5,000 looked-after-children are housed in such accommodation across the UK.

Rodor Housing and Support Limited’s owner, Marven Gabula, denied that any children under 15 lived in the home, which brings in up to £74,000 per month in total.

He told Newsnight: "Local authorities would not agree to pay something they don't agree to," Mr Gabula said.

"No-one is holding them at throat level. If local authorities want to look at varied options, they will look at varied options."

Bromley Council did not provide a response to News Shopper's request for comment.