Housing allocations – have your say

Housing allocations – have your say

Residents are urged to share their views in a consultation about proposals to change the qualification criteria for social housing.

The housing allocations consultation launched on 10 March, and runs until 12 May, with the main proposals listed below.

Introducing a household income threshold of £39,059 per year.

Introducing a savings, assets and capital threshold of £16,000 per household.

Anyone who is adequately housed will not be able to join the register.

Any applicant who refuses their offer of accommodation would be removed from the register and be ineligible to reapply for 12 months.

Removing the five-year limit so that any veteran can join the Housing Register, to align with practices adopted by many other authorities nationwide.

Young carers would be awarded their own bedroom for the duration of the time they are providing care to the person in the home.

Raising the age which children of the same sex can share a bedroom – from 16 to 18.

Allocating a slightly smaller property, in some circumstances, provided it would alleviate severe overcrowding and provided everyone in the household has an adequate bedspace.

Introducing the option to rehouse young adults aged 18 or over, who are the child of a tenant, into a studio or 1 bedroom property, to remove or significantly reduce the overcrowding of the main household. The applicant or the young adult can make the request.

Introducing affordability checks when allocating social housing, to give confidence to incoming tenants that they can afford the home and sustain their tenancy.

So far, there have been more than 800 responses. The survey can be completed in a selection of languages and the most popular have been English, Polish, Arabic and Urdu.

The highest percentage of responses has come from applicants, and 74% of responses fall within the ages of 30-59.

Councillor Dexter Smith, leader of the council, said: “Our current policy needs a refresh, and this is our opportunity to make changes which would prioritise those with the greatest housing need and make better use of our existing housing supply.

“Thank you to everyone who has already completed the survey. We have had some responses from young people and care leavers, but we would welcome some more from this age group. Everyone can share their views, whether they are currently on the housing register or not.”

A report with the consultation outcome and any proposed amendments to the draft policy will be brought to Cabinet at a meeting in June.

Once the new policy is agreed, those on the housing register will receive a letter, and be advised they will have to re-register to be checked against the new criteria. If they reapply and remain eligible, their original registration date will be honoured. If their band stays the same on the new policy, the original date they were placed in the band will also be honoured.

Under the new policy, applications will need to be renewed every 12 months, or every three months if placed in the emergency Band A category.

Find out more about the proposals.

Complete the survey.

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Kate Pratt
(Slough Council, Communications Manager, Slough)