FOI request (FOIR-739039852)

Social housing registers

Requested Mon 11 August 2025
Responded Wed 20 August 2025

This request is for councils that operate a social housing register, regardless of whether or not they are themselves a provider of social/council housing.

Earlier this year I sent two FOI requests related to social housing wait times. This request follows on from those, but should not be grouped with them for section 12 purposes due to the passage of time.

The reason for this new request is because it became apparent that some councils operate a data recording policy whereby certain individuals on the social housing register are recorded as having been on the register (or in a specific priority band) since an artificially backdated point in time, such as when they turned 18, rather than since the time they actually joined the register/band. As a result, the figures provided by councils risked overstating how long people wait to secure social housing. That is why I am sending this request. I recognise the combined administrative burden from these requests but I want to avoid overstating the situation facing people on the council’s social housing register. This should be the last such FOI request I send.

In the following questions, 'backdated households' are those where, as described above, the date they are recorded as having joined the register/band is administratively backdated to a point that may be before when they actually joined the register/band. This may apply to care leavers, depending on the council’s recordkeeping policy. It may be that there are no such households under the council’s recordkeeping policy for its social housing register. Questions that do not explicitly refer to 'backdated households' are asking for data that includes those backdated households plus all other applicable households. Please ask me for clarification if unclear on this (or any other) point.

My questions are:

1. The average time (in days) the households currently in the highest priority band on the council’s social housing register have been in that specific priority band for (thus excluding any time they may have previously spent in other bands).

2. The number of households included in the question 1 data.

3. The question 1 figure excluding backdated households.

4. The number of households included in the question 3 data (that is, excluding backdated households).

5. The average time (in days) the households currently in the second-highest priority band on the council’s social housing register have been in that specific priority band for (thus excluding any time they may have previously spent in other bands).

6. The number of households included in the question 5 data.

7. The question 5 figure excluding backdated households.

8. The number of households included in the question 7 data (that is, excluding backdated households).

9. Among households in the highest priority band who were rehoused in financial year 2024/25 (and thus left the social housing register), the average time (in days) they had been in the highest priority band for at the time they were rehoused.

10. The number of households included in the question 9 data.

11. The question 9 figure excluding backdated households.

12. The number of households included in the question 11 data (that is, excluding backdated households).

13. Among households in the second-highest priority band who were rehoused in financial year 2024/25 (and thus left the social housing register), the average time (in days) they had been in the second-highest priority band for at the time they were rehoused.

14. The number of households included in the question 13 data.

15. The question 13 figure excluding backdated households.

16. The number of households included in the question 15 data (that is, excluding backdated households).

Please note these questions are based on priority bands, not on the number of bedrooms.

If the information for questions 9-16 is not available by financial year, please provide it for calendar year 2024. If average times cannot be provided in days, please provide them in weeks (or, if nothing else is available, months).

If the information for any question cannot be sourced, please mark that question as 'information not held' and provide the remainder of the information.

I would like the information sent by email in the attached spreadsheet (by filling in a spreadsheet file supplied by me, there is no chance of accidental disclosure of private data).

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Response

1. 709 days

2. 818 households

3. See 1 above

4. See 2 above

5. 1159 days

6. 419 households

7. See 5 above

8. See 6 above

9. 1042 days

10. 247 households

11. See 9 above

12. See 10 above

13. 623 days

14. 9 households

15. See 13 above

16. See 14 above