A new policy to determine how council housing is allocated will be reviewed at next week’s decision session of Conservative Cllr. Helen Douglas, Executive Member for housing and safer neighbourhoods.
For the past two years a new approach offering detailed face-to-face housing advice sessions have been giving applicants a more realistic idea of the likelihood of their getting an council home and has significantly reduced the numbers of people with a low level of need applying for council housing. Most of these would-be applicants are then signposted to the private sector.
In 2014, there were 922 people in the bronze ‘lowest need’ band, whilst after the shift in practice in 2017 there were only 462 in this band, a clear sign that other sources of housing are being accessed. This change has freed support to focus on those facing homelessness and others with the greatest housing need.
The new policy means looking closely at who is able to apply for social housing. It will consider qualifying criteria including local connections, housing reviews, verification of an applicant’s identity to prevent fraud, and the setting of levels of need. Other criteria such as combined household income and levels of debt could also be included.
Encouraging downsizing to free up urgently-needed two and three-bed roomed family homes will be a priority.
Councillor Douglas said: “The impact of individual, realistic interviews with applicants is helping ensure that those who could meet their housing need in the private sector do so, and that our stock is reserved for those in greatest need.
“Along with a more effective allocations policy, progress with our Local Plan, our older people’s accommodation programme and our Housing Delivery Programme all demonstrate that our Conservative-led administration is serious about providing a variety of homes to meet the housing needs of our residents.”