Tenants get more room to move

Social housing tenants across the country are expected to have greater say in where they can live after the Government announced extra funding to expand choice-based lettings schemes.

Housing Minister John Healey has announced over £500,000 in extra cash to be used to create extra choice-based schemes and expand those that are already in operation. The schemes offer tenants greater mobility, choice and flexibility when looking at their housing options enabling them to move across different local authority areas, for example if they were looking to move for a job opportunity.

Since the programme began in 2005 more than £6.5 million has been given to councils to work with housing associations to provide increased choice and mobility for thousands of new and existing social housing tenants.

Over 80 per cent of local authorities across England, some 265, now have a scheme in place or in development and Healey said that the government remained on target to ensure choice based lettings were rolled out across the whole of the country by the end of this year.

“Thanks to this funding more councils and housing associations will be able to offer their tenants more choice in where they want to live beyond the traditional boundaries. These schemes mean that local authorities have another tool to manage their waiting lists more effectively, by ensuring each home is matched to tenants more suited to the property,” the Minister said.

“This is not just a good deal for local authorities but a good deal for tenants too, enabling those who need to move, perhaps for work, to do so. This comes alongside other measures I have put in place to ensure that social housing is better meeting the needs of communities. I have recently launched guidance for local authorities to ensure fairness in the allocations system as well as a clampdown on housing cheats illegally subletting homes, and I will continue to look at more can be done.”
The successful sub-regional schemes are:

• Allerdale to join the Cumbria scheme
• Barrow-in-Furness to join the Cumbria scheme
• Burnley to join the Pennine Lancashire Scheme
• Lancaster Scheme
• Medway to join the Kent Home Choice Scheme
• Test valley to join the Hampshire Home Choice Scheme
• Sefton and Halton to join the Merseyside Scheme
• Craven and Richmondshire to join the North Yorkshire scheme
• Leicestershire and Rutland Scheme