A proposal to consult on changes to the way the city’s council and housing association homes are allocated will be considered by the Housing & New Homes committee on 24 January.
With council homes and other social housing in the city in huge demand, the aim of the proposals is to update the allocations policy and make sure available homes go to those in the greatest housing need.
We’re also keen to make it easier for current tenants to transfer to another home.
The council’s current Housing Allocations Policy came into effect in 2016 and needs updating in response to national legislation and local needs.
The policy is key to how people in housing need on the joint housing register bid for homes through the city’s choice based-lettings system Homemove.
If agreed, a consultation on the proposals will begin in February and run for 13 weeks until May.
A review of the policy began last year and the committee will be recommended to give the go ahead to start public consultation on proposed changes. No final decisions are being made at this stage.
One of the main proposed changes is to increase the scope for households at risk of homelessness to join the housing register sooner, where they’ve approached the council for advice and support to prevent their homelessness.
At present households at risk of being made homeless can only join the housing register once they have lost their home.
The aim of the proposed change is to help prevent homelessness and reduce the need to place people in temporary accommodation.
Other proposed changes to the allocations policy in a report to the committee include:
Councillor Gill Williams, chair of the Housing & New Homes Committee, said: “We’re facing a national housing crisis like no other, and this has a serious impact in Brighton & Hove.
“We’re seeing record numbers of people presenting as either homeless or threatened with homelessness. This puts additional pressures on services which are already stretched to their limit.
“We’re building more council homes, but we cannot keep up with the demand. There’s still have a serious shortage of affordable housing in the city and a huge demand for accommodation.
“Making sure our Allocations Policy works as well as it can to make sure homes go to people who need them most is part of our work to improve housing support for residents.
“With the numbers of households on our waiting list nearing 8,000, it’s imperative we make the best possible use of available council and housing association homes in the city.
“We hope to start consultation on the proposals next month, subject to committee approval, to get feedback from residents to help shape the final proposals.”
If you are threatened with homelessness, please contact us to get advice as soon as possible. We can support you with any problems making it difficult to stay in your home.
The homeless prevention and housing options support we provide includes action to prevent applicants from becoming homeless, help to keep or secure accommodation and a personalised housing plan.
