The National Housing Federation has set out a consultation paper to it members and others on its views on how the system of allocation of social housing should be reformed.

“The Federation has set out how it believes the system for allocating social homes could be reformed – in a consultation paper being sent to its members and others.
 We want to ensure that housing is available to people in different circumstances in a way that supports individuals to realise their potential and at the same time delivers communities that are socially and economically viable.  The current allocation system for social housing was designed with noble intentions, but is judged to be unfair by many people looking for social housing. 

It prioritises households defined as being in the greatest need, but effectively excludes those whose needs may be equally high, but are simply not recognised.

It also fails to support mobility for existing social housing tenants and creates concentrations of people who are very vulnerable when they move into social housing.

The underlying problem is the shortage of affordable housing as building has failed to keep pace with demand and waiting lists have soared in the past decade from 1.04 million households in 1999 to 1.75 million households in 2009.

Without more social housing being provided the choices available to people seeking a home will remain severely constrained. With the drive to reduce the public budget deficit the government and social housing providers are asking questions about the type of affordable housing they should invest in and who should it be for.

The consultation paper – ‘Fairer access to social housing’ looks at opening up opportunities for access to other tenures, such as low cost home ownership and intermediate renting.

At the same time it sets out the case for a fairer system for those ‘queuing’ for social rented housing, a system that does not see people having to paint themselves into the worst possible position in order to move up the queue and get a chance of social housing.

We propose reforms that recognise that local authorities and housing associations need greater flexibility to respond to the housing markets they operate in, their strategic priorities and the needs of their existing tenants who want to move, as well as those of new applicants.

Our vision is one where social landlords can take a view of what needs to happen in each local place, built on a dialogue and understanding of the needs of their local communities.  

We do not think we have all the answers and we very much want to open up discussion around how social housing should be allocated.

In the paper we set out some consultation questions, but would welcome comment on any aspect of our analysis, the issues we have identified and the solutions we are proposing “

Source: National Housing Federation press release http://www.housing.org.uk/default.aspx?tabid=212&mid=828&ctl=Details&ArticleID=3284 26 August 2010

The National Housing Federation (NHF) is the umbrella organisation for social housing providers in the UK. They represents 1,200 independent, not-for-profit housing associations in England