We are reviewing the rules we use to decide who gets social housing, to make sure we help those with the greatest need who live in Manchester, and want your views
By law we must say who can apply for a socially rented home; this has to include the principles and rules we use to decide who can apply for housing; who qualifies to join the housing register and how we prioritise who gets a home. We do this through our ‘Allocations scheme’
See our current allocation scheme rules
Everyone who applies and qualifies for housing in Manchester is added to the housing register. There are currently over 15,000 households on the register and, even though the city has a higher proportion of social housing stock than other similar cities, it is estimated that only 2,200 of these households are likely to be rehoused during 2019/20. This is because only a small number of households will leave their tenancy, making homes available.
We, and our housing partners, are working hard to increase the supply by building more genuinely affordable homes, and bringing empty homes back into use, but demand is still higher than supply.
With homes being in such high demand we have to make sure that available homes go to those with the greatest housing need, who would benefit the most while making the best use of the social housing across the city. It is especially important that people in crisis, such as those who are homeless, have a real chance of getting a social home.
To do this we’re working with our partners, to make changes to the rules we use to decide who gets the limited social housing available.
Changes to who can qualify to join the register:
- changing the rules so that you must have been a resident in the city for a continuous 2 year period (subject to exceptions)
- reducing the amount of savings you can have from £75,000 to £30,000 (subject to exceptions).
- changing the rules so homeowners do not qualify (subject to exceptions).
Changes to the priority level awarded:
- applicants who qualify because of overcrowding get different priority based on the level of overcrowding
- stop giving extra priority to households who are working or contributing to the community
Results
This consultation closed on Friday 30 August 2019 - see the results