Housing

Housing allocation

Information on the allocation of social housing by local authorities

What's new?

On 4 December 2009, following consultation, John Healey published new statutory guidance for local authorities on social housing allocations, Fair and Flexible - see News Release: Greater council freedom on housing allocations.

The guidance makes clear that first priority for housing must be given to those in greatest housing need.  But it also encourages local authorities to make greater use of the existing freedoms and flexibilities to prioritise needs specific to their local area. It also encourages them to do more to involve and inform their communities when setting their local priorities so that local views are reflected in allocation policies. Allocations responsibilities

All local authorities are responsible for their own allocations policy which must conform to legislative requirements set out in part 6 of the 1996 Housing Act, as amended by the 2002 Homelessness Act. Communities and Local Government has provided statutory guidance to local authorities on implementing the legislation.

To give a quick overview of the legislation this requires an authority to have and publish a scheme that determines priorities and the procedure for allocating housing. A number of classes of household must be given reasonable preference under an allocation scheme.

Reasonable Preference Groups

  • people who are homeless
  • people occupying insanitary, overcrowded, or otherwise unsatisfactory housing
  • people who need to move for medical or welfare reasons, including ground relating to a disability and
  • people who need to move to a particular location - for example, to be nearer to special training opportunities, or special medical facilities - and who would suffer hardship if they were unable to do so

Transfers for existing tenants

The allocation legislation applies to new applicants and to existing tenants of local authorities and registered social landlords who want to move house and who apply to go on the local authority waiting list.

Applying to move to another area

Existing tenants and new applicants may apply to another local authority in whose area they do not currently live. As a result of the 2002 Act, it is no longer open to an authority to exclude anyone on the grounds that they do not have a local connection with their district. However, housing authorities are still allowed to take into account whether someone has a local connection when determining relative priorities between applicants who fall within one of the reasonable preference categories. In this context someone has a local connection through residence, employment, family connection or some other special circumstance. 

Overcrowding and Space Standard

The space standard is based on how many people live together in the house. Under this, children less than a year old are not counted, and children under ten are counted as half a person. A room is counted as available for sleeping accommodation if it is the type that can be used in the locality for either a living room or a bedroom.

The table shows the maximum number of people who can live in a house before the space standard is contravened.

Number of rooms

Number of persons

1

2

2

3

3

5

4

7 and a half

5

2 for each room

 

 

 

 

 

Under the 1996 Housing Act local authorities have to give reasonable preference for certain groups of people when framing their allocations policy. One of these groups is 'people occupying insanitary or overcrowded housing, or otherwise living in unsatisfactory housing conditions'. Unfortunately in some areas there is a shortage of social housing and local authorities may have to prioritise.

The issue of children of opposite sex sharing a room comes under the Housing Act 1985. It says that a dwelling is overcrowded if two people of opposite sex must share a room, unless they are living together as husband and wife. However, if the children are under ten they are exempted from this.

Choice Based Lettings

It is a Communities and Local Government target that all local authorities will have choice based allocations schemes by 2010. For more information please see the Choice Based Lettings section.

Further information

Further information or enquiries about allocations of accommodation should be addressed to:

Allocations and access to housing policy
Communities and Local Government
1/E2 Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU

Tel: 0303 444 0000

Originally published: 1 March 2005

In this section

Related publications

Archived content

You may also be interested in …

On this site

Rough sleeping

A fifteen point action plan that sets out our vision to work with partners to end rough sleeping by 2012.

Have your say

My favourites