The number of homeless families with school-age children being housed outside London by their local authorities has soared dramatically over the last four years.

Figures obtained by London Assembly Green Party member Darren Johnson show that 21 families were shifted outside the capital in 2010/11 but that the number had risen to 222 in the first three quarters of 2013/14 - a 1,000% increase.

The figures also show that 2,687 other families with children were forced to move to another London borough in the same period, compared to 1,428 in 2010/11.

The rising figures make a mockery of London Mayor Boris Johnson's comments of November 2010, when he told the London Assembly: “Where people have put down roots and where they have family obligations such as sending their kids to school I think you have got to be very, very careful... I do not think... it is conservatism to say to people, 'We are going to have a policy of uprooting you from your home in short order'.”

Darren Johnson said: “These figures show that the mayor isn’t keeping his promise to families with children. He is looking the other way while hundreds of children are moved away from their local schools, their parents separated from local support networks and possibly made to lose their job. It shouldn’t take freedom of information requests to put the spotlight on the suffering that is happening under his nose.

“Instead of supporting cuts to benefits for the low paid, disabled and jobseekers, the mayor should be driving down rents by regulating the private rented sector and building more social housing. That would reduce the benefit bill and make London more affordable for everyone.”