Up to 20 houses may be purchased by Harrow Council to provide rented accomodation for Ugandan Asian families wishing to live in the borough.
The decision was taken on a majority vote at the meeting of the council on Thursday, with one Conservatives abstaining and several people in the public gallery shouting: "What about the council tenants who have got to pay for it in their rents?"
To bridge the time lag between concluding negotiations and obtaining possession of the houses, up to ten houses are to be rented for limited periods as accomodation for families who would later be transferred to the other houses.
The decision to buy the 20 houses is subject to the Goverment and the Uganda Resettlement Board accepting the expenditure involved for grant purposes.