Over 20,000 households were waiting for a council house in the Bristol region last year. The real figure is likely much higher as experts warn against a “chronic shortage” in housing.
Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show 21,851 households were waiting for a council house in the Bristol region - including the City of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire - as of March 31, 2021. This was up 2 per cent compared to the previous year (21,374), and down 31 per cent from 2011 (31,988).
Breaking down the figures, Bristol City Council saw a 13 per cent increase in households waiting for a council house between 2020 and 2021 from 12,181 to 15,486. The council has been approached for comment on these figures.
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North Somerset Council saw a 36 per cent drop from 3,418 to 2,306 and while South Gloucestershire Council saw a slight rise from 4,059 to 3,804.
However, the Local Government Association has warned that one in ten households wait over five years due to a “chronic shortage of affordable housing”, and predicted that waitlists could have doubled as COVID assistance programs wound down. Of those on the waitlist, 46 per cent had reasonable preference, which gives them priority within the allocations system based on factors like homelessness, poor living conditions or health requirements.
There were 383 homeless households, down 23 per cent from the 500 waiting in 2020, and 1,198 households owed a duty by authority waiting for a property, up 15 per cent from 1,040 in 2020. Homeless people owed a duty by authority are those considered unintentionally homeless, such as care leavers or victims of domestic abuse among others. There may be some overlap between the two homeless categories.
There were also 5,049 households waiting for a property due to living in unsanitary or overcrowded conditions, down 4 per cent from 5,272, and 3,554 households were waiting for a property due to medical, welfare or disability needs, down 10 per cent from 3,979 in 2020. Local authorities across Bristol own 26,860 dwellings, marginally less than the previous year (26,941) and down 4 per cent from 2011 (28,023). However only 53 properties were available to let.
North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils own no properties, with social housing in the areas provided by housing associations, but local authorities are still expected to maintain waiting lists of those who have applied for housing.
Across England, 1.2 million households were waiting for council housing last year, 4 per cent more than the previous year. However, council housing stock has fallen by 7 per cent, or just over 100,000 properties, since 2011.
As waitlists only include households that apply and meet strict criteria, rather than every household in need of affordable and secure accommodation, estimates from the National Housing Federation suggest there may be half a million more unrecorded households in need of social housing.
This comes amid the government’s controversial plans to extend the Right to Buy policy to people living in housing association properties, with the potential to deplete housing stock further and lengthen waitlists.
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: "There are over a million households on the social housing waiting list in desperate need of a safe and secure place to call home. The real number of people who need a social home is likely much higher, but more restrictive criteria have meant many people don't even make it to the list.”
She said fewer than 6,000 new social homes were built last year, which didn't cover the number being sold or demolished, with an annual average net loss of 17,228 social homes in the past decade.
Ms Neate added: "This is why the government's plan to extend Right to Buy is so frustrating, it will make an already dire situation much worse, while doing absolutely nothing to solve the housing emergency. The government should abandon this nonsensical plan and get on with building the new generation of social homes we urgently need."
A Government spokesperson said: “The extension of Right to Buy will make sure each and every property sold is replaced. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes programme will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country – around half of these will be for social and affordable rent.
“Social housing waiting lists have reduced by more than 550,000 since 2010 and we continue to work closely with local authorities and housing associations to ensure homes are being allocated effectively.”
Nearly half the households waiting for a property were those given reasonable preference. Homeless households waiting for council properties are on the rise with 80,891 across the nation, up 8 per cent on the previous year as well as 81,535 homeless households owed a duty by the local authority, 13 per cent higher than 2020.
There were also 250,475 households living in unsanitary or overcrowded conditions, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year. According to Shelter, three in ten people live in such conditions, including 3.6 million children, 9.2 million working age adults and 2 million pensioners.
The need for accessible properties is also rising, with 122,723 households needing a council house on medical, welfare or disability grounds, a 4 per cent increase on the previous year. These households may face longer wait times than others as accessible dwellings are more limited.
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