How we allocate housing

All housing register applications and offers of accommodation are made in line with our housing allocation scheme.

Housing queues

The housing register operates eight separate housing queues. If you are eligible and qualify for the housing register, your application will be added to one of the queues based on:

• The information provided in your application form
• If you have been nominated by other teams within the council, or
• If you have had a main duty accepted by the Homelessness Prevention and Solutions team

In most cases, an adult applicant may only appear on one application for allocation of housing.

Most applications on the housing register are considered for general needs housing.

Physical disability

The housing register has a physical disability queue for people who require specifically designed or adapted accommodation.

Registration on this queue is subject to an assessment and recommendations from our Occupational Therapy (OT) service or the Children's OT service.

Older persons

We also maintain an older persons housing queue, which is open to applicants 55 years old or older to be considered for sheltered housing.

You should review the different schemes before applying for sheltered housing. We will then assess your suitability.

Bands

Your application will be placed in a band. The band determines the priority of your application. Each housing queue uses different banding criteria, which is set out in the allocation scheme. 

Applications on the general needs queue, the council tenant transfer queue, and the older persons housing queue are placed into bands using a points system. The number of points awarded determines the band for each application.

Banding system

There are four bands, with band A being the highest and band D the lowest:

• Band A: 300 points or more
• Band B: 150 to 299 points
• Band C: 50 to 149 points
• Band D: 1 to 49 points

Your position within the band is determined by the date you entered that band.

Most applicants will not receive an offer

Due to the limited number of available properties and the very high demand on the housing register, most applicants will not receive an offer. Homes are only allocated to those with the highest priority, and even then, it is likely to take several years.

Applicants given lower priority

There are instances where applicants will be given lower priority and placed in the lowest band, such as:

• People who have not been resident within the borough for three years immediately prior to making an application
• People who own or jointly own accommodation in the UK or elsewhere
• People whose income or savings are of a reasonable amount to get alternative suitable accommodation
• Housing association tenants who have not made a transfer application to their housing association directly

Higher priority may be given to applications that involve multiple needs and/or where there is a serious and credible risk to the applicant’s safety in their current accommodation.

However, it may still take a long time before an offer of accommodation is made despite being placed in the highest band. If you have an urgent rehousing need due to safety you should consider discuss your housing options with our housing options team.

Bedroom requirements

We will assess the number of bedrooms needed for you and the household members included on your application. This will be in line with our allocation scheme.

Your bedroom need will be specified on your registration letter.

Queue position

Once we have assessed your application, we will send you a registration letter explaining the outcome of our assessment.

After you receive your letter, you can log in to your housing account to see your position in the queue.

Change of circumstances

There is nothing you can do to speed up how soon you may receive an offer or be given a higher priority for housing.

However, you should always report a change in your circumstances. A change in circumstances may affect:

• Our assessment of your application
• The number of points your housing application receives
• The size of accommodation you need

If you are unable to wait to be offered housing, you should look at what other housing options are available.

If you are threatened with homelessness within the next 56 days, you will need to seek homelessness assistance.