By Nick Mann | 5 January 2012
The government has set out how it expects councils and housing associations to allocate social housing to people who ‘genuinely need and deserve’ it.
Statutory guidance published for consultation today outlines how housing authorities should make use of their new powers to decide who should be eligible for social housing.
The powers, brought in under the Localism Act, allow councils to set their own qualifying criteria. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, this means groups such as ‘hard-working families’ and ex-servicemen and women should be prioritised.
Councils such as Westminster and Manchester are already making plans to ensure social housing is used to reward people who are working or actively seeking work, the department said.
Among the examples given in the guidance are short-term and flexible tenancies. Offering a ‘time-limited period of stability’ could benefit those re-entering or entering work, as well as helping councils to make best use of their housing stock, the document explains.
Councils are also ‘strongly encouraged’ to take into account the needs of serving and former armed services personnel.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said that giving councils the power to decide who qualifies for social housing would ensure that allocations could not be abused by those who know how to ‘play the system best’.
He said the guidance would release councils from the current one-size-fits-all approach, giving them the freedom to ensure people can live in social housing ‘when they need it, for as long as they need it’.
He added: ‘No longer will people who gain a council house be able to leave their aspiration and ambition at the door. Instead, they will be helped to make a better life for themselves and their communities.
‘These changes will not only ensure more people benefit from the privilege of living in a social home, it will also restore pride to social housing, so a social tenancy is no longer seen as a stagnant option for life, but a launch pad to fulfil expectations.’
The consultation on the guidance is open until March 30.
