Housing waiting list times
Even if you qualify for housing, if you are on the general needs queue you are likely to wait for a number of years for an offer of social housing. This is because vacant properties are often given to high priority queues meaning that the general needs queue may move slowly.
The prospect of being in the offer range and being made an offer of social housing is determined by the number of resources forecast to each housing access queue, as well as properties becoming available.
| Types of queue | Number |
|---|---|
| Homeless households | 2,744 |
| Council tenant transfer queue | 1,470 |
| General needs queue | 6,464 |
| Sheltered queue | 455 |
| Other queues (referral) | 335 |
| Under-occupiers | 328 |
| Physical disability queue | 64 |
| Total |
11,860 |
Priority bands
Due to the shortage of available properties and the high numbers of people on the waiting list we cannot offer a home to most applicants. Below is guidance on how long you may have to wait. This depends on your priority band.
Priority Band A or B
Although we may be able to offer you a property it is likely it will take several years before this happens. This is because of the high numbers of people already registered on the waiting list.
We do not know when we will be able to offer you a property because we do not know when or if any suitable properties will become vacant. For households needing large accommodation (4 or more bedrooms) the waiting time for a vacant property will be a lot longer.
It is not necessary to contact the Housing Options Team or Housing Allocations Team to ask how long an offer will take. We will contact you when we have an available property to offer you.
Priority Band C or D
If your application is assessed and placed in Band C or D we are very unlikely to be in a position to offer you a property. This is because we have a very limited number of properties we are able to offer each year and a high number of applicants registered in the higher priority Bands A and B.
Changing priority bands
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do speed up the waiting time, or be given a higher priority.
You should however always advise us if there is a change of circumstances as this may affect our assessment of your application, the number of points your housing application receives, or the size of accommodation you need.
If you are unable to wait you should look at what other housing options are available. If you are threatened with homelessness within the next 28 days you will need to seek alternative housing assistance. Please see our homelessness section for further information.