Subject to approval by Bridgend Council’s Cabinet, a public consultation will be launched soon on changes to the common social housing allocation policy (pdf).
The policy sets out how the registered social landlords in Bridgend County manage applications for social housing via the Common Housing Register. It determines how high a priority the applicant is, though some of this is decided by Welsh housing laws. The last update to the policy was in 2017.
As things stand, there are over 3,300 households on the Common Housing Register.
There is currently an undersupply of one-bedroom and four-plus bedroom social homes compared to demand. There is also a notable undersupply of homes in the Porthcawl and Brackla areas compared to local demand. This means many applicants may be housed outside of their desired area.
The report also notes issues with “bed blocking” caused by delays in moving on care leavers and people in supported accommodation.
People on the social housing waiting list are currently placed into four bands, ranging from:
- Priority (Most Urgent Need) – This includes people with the most critical medical needs and care leavers who require more intensive support. People who need to be rehoused as an emergency are also included.
- Band A (Urgent Need) – Other groups who are legally required to be considered in priority need, such as people the council must house as homeless, people threatened with homelessness by leaving the Armed Forces, people needing adapted homes and care leavers under the age of 25.
- Band B (Non-Urgent Need) – Includes people who meet one of the urgent criteria but have no proven local connection, as well as others who are homeless or at risk of homelessness but are not owed a duty.
- Non-Preference – People who have a history of poor tenant behaviour and/or rent arrears and debt.
The Proposed Changes
The full draft policy is available here (pdf).
- People willing to move from properties in high demand (1 and 4-bed homes) to different accommodation will be added to the Priority category. This is to better manage the demand and supply of suitable social housing.
- All households threatened with homelessness, including those living in temporary accommodation, will be added to Band A.
- Care-experienced children looking to move on from a placement will be added to Band A, though if moving them would cut the level of intervention from different agencies, they’ll be considered a Priority.
- The “Non Preference” category will be removed. People can still be excluded from the list based on their past unacceptable behaviour, but they can be reconsidered if they can prove that their behaviour or circumstances have changed.
- People with rent arrears equivalent to or more than 8 weeks rent won’t be excluded from the register as long as they enter into a repayment plan/debt restructuring and the debt is reduced to below the 8-week amount.
- Applicants who either own or part own a residential property (anywhere in the world), or have savings/assets above £30,000, or a household income of more than £35,000 per year (single person or couple), or £65,000 per year (applicants requesting 2 or 3 bedrooms) will no longer be able to join the social housing waiting list. The only exceptions will be on medical/disability grounds, issues relating to hospital discharge or sheltered accommodation and/or where someone who owns/has a financial interest in a property can’t live in it.
