About half of the 19,000 families on Bristol City Council’s housing waiting list are being effectively kicked off after bosses admitted giving them “false hope” of ever finding a home. Less than one per cent of the 9,500 households considered the least urgent are allocated accommodation, so there is “little to no chance of being successfully housed”, a report to the authority’s leaders said.
The city’s social housing is advertised on the council’s HomeChoice website, which people on the waiting list can bid on, with those in the greatest need usually awarded a property if it is suitable. Cabinet members approved a radical shake-up of the scheme, removing the right of those in band four – the lowest of four priority bands categorising people’s need for accommodation – to put in bids for most homes, apart from older people looking for sheltered housing.
The changes also mean more applicants will have homes chosen for them, while care leavers, tenants looking to downsize and people at risk of homelessness, such as young people being told to leave their parents’ homes, will be moved up the list. Parts of Bristol, including Fishponds, Hengrove, Horfield, Knowle, Lawrence Hill, Southmead and St Pauls, will also see local people given priority to stay in their communities.
