Housing allocation: Care leavers and armed forces personnel may be housed faster under new proposals

A council has proposed changes to its housing allocation scheme which could see care leavers and armed forces personnel offered a permanent home faster.

Southwark council is proposing changes to its Housing Allocations Scheme, which sets out how the local authority allocates its council homes.

The scheme was introduced in 2014 and needs updating in line with government regulations, the council said.

There are more than 18,000 people on the housing waiting list in Southwark, including more than 4,000 households in temporary accommodation.

The average waiting time for a three-bedroom council home in Southwark is more than five years. Each year less than 10 per cent of applicants are offered a council home.

The proposals would change the current Bands 1 to 4 to Bands A to E, with A being the highest priority and E the lowest.

Currently, care leavers, armed forces personnel and applicants escaping domestic abuse are categorised as Band 2 priority.

Under new proposals, care leavers and armed forces personnel will be moved up to Band A, joining  people living in “insanitary” or “unsafe” housing, assessed as posing a “significant risk to health and safety”.

Those affected by domestic abuse will be prioritised as Band B.

The new scheme would keep local lettings policies, with some proposed changes.

Cllr Sarah King, Southwark Council’s Cabinet Member for Council Homes, said: “Council homes change lives. In Southwark, the demand for council homes is huge, as it is across London.  That’s why it’s so important they go to the people in the very greatest need.”

The plans are open for consultation until June 1. The council said it will contact everyone on its housing register and its tenants to ask for their views.

After consultation ends, the council will consider all responses and amend the proposed scheme as appropriate.  A final recommended draft scheme will then go to the council’s Cabinet for approval.

For full details of the proposed changes please see the Southwark Council website.  

Pictured top: Each year less than 10 per cent of applicants will be offered a council home (Picture: Southwark council)