Durham County Council (DCC) has launched a consultation asking for views on key issues for social housing, as part of a comprehensive review of its housing allocations policy.
The issues have been identified through initial work with the main social housing providers in the County.
The council would like tenants and people on the housing register to help them with this work.
The current housing allocations policy has been in place since 2017 and with a greater demand for social housing in County Durham than supply, as well as a nationwide housing crisis, the council is reviewing the allocations process.
Since the pandemic, DCC has seen the waiting list for social housing in County Durham increase by around 30% to nearly 11,000 and waiting times for social housing have also grown significantly with a reduced number of properties available. More people are bidding for less housing. The average number of bids per property across the County has risen from four bids per property in 2016/17 when the policy was last reviewed to 44 bids per property in 2023/24.
Customer expectations have also changed since the policy was last reviewed and part of the review will seek to improve the experience of the application process.
In this first phase of consultation, the council want to gather views on the key issues affecting housing allocation, and what changes (if any) might need to be made to the allocations policy to ensure housing is allocated fairly and to those in greatest need.
Find out more and have your say here: www.letstalkcountydurham.co.uk
Durham County Council (DCC) has launched a consultation asking for views on key issues for social housing, as part of a comprehensive review of its housing allocations policy.
The issues have been identified through initial work with the main social housing providers in the County.
The council would like tenants and people on the housing register to help them with this work.
The current housing allocations policy has been in place since 2017 and with a greater demand for social housing in County Durham than supply, as well as a nationwide housing crisis, the council is reviewing the allocations process.
Since the pandemic, DCC has seen the waiting list for social housing in County Durham increase by around 30% to nearly 11,000 and waiting times for social housing have also grown significantly with a reduced number of properties available. More people are bidding for less housing. The average number of bids per property across the County has risen from four bids per property in 2016/17 when the policy was last reviewed to 44 bids per property in 2023/24.
Customer expectations have also changed since the policy was last reviewed and part of the review will seek to improve the experience of the application process.
In this first phase of consultation, the council want to gather views on the key issues affecting housing allocation, and what changes (if any) might need to be made to the allocations policy to ensure housing is allocated fairly and to those in greatest need.
Find out more and have your say here: www.letstalkcountydurham.co.uk
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