Charedi activists are exploring the possibility of setting up a new community outside London because of the shortage of housing among a rapidly expanding population.

Rabbi Asher Gratt, who lives in Stamford Hill, north London, said that "many families in our community are struggling very hard to find suitable living space".

There was, he said, a "severe shortage of housing with property prices sky-rocketing out of control".

One potential site was being looked at, although he did not want to give further details.

In the past, areas such as the Thames Gateway and Milton Keynes have been mooted as possible sites for new Charedi communities.

One Charedi blogger, who writes under the name If You Tickle US, has suggested that a possibility could be a new development in Medway, Kent.

The Charedi community in London has boomed over the past 15 years. The strictly Orthodox population of Seven Sisters, in the borough of Haringey, had more than doubled between 2001 and 2011.

Rabbi Gratt said that "a group of community members have come together to seek a solution by initiating a non-profit project, with the aim of providing alternative affordable accommodation for members of our community outside London".

They were, he added, "trying to assess the extent and the scale of the problem by carrying out a local survey. At the same time we are negotiating with land owners and homebuilders to hopefully lead us to a workable solution."

So far support had been "phenomenal", he said. "This is a local project by the residents – for the residents."