Rother District Council

Applying for Social Housing in Rother

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Please Read

Many housing applicants have advised that if they had realised how long the wait for permanent housing would be they would have been more willing to consider other options when they first applied.

All local authorities in the South East have a serious shortage of housing and Rother District Council is no different.

Finding a home in Rother can be difficult, so many people turn to the Council for help. Unfortunately, we also have a serious shortage of homes to offer via our registered social landlords. In the whole of Rother only around 10% of the total housing stock is "social housing". That is housing owned by housing associations for rent at low cost to people in housing need.

The massive gap between the supply of homes available and the demand for those homes means that we only offer properties to people in the greatest of need. Even then most people face a long wait before they are successful in securing accommodation via Homemove.

Demand – The Numbers currently waiting:

• ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO =The total number of housing applicants waiting for social housing in the Rother area
• ONE HUNDRED = The average number of new housing applications each month

In order to give you an idea of the current numbers waiting based on their bedroom need please see below.

There are currently:

• 1093 applicants waiting for one bed accommodation
• 588 applicants waiting for two bed accommodation
• 240 applicants waiting for three bed accommodation
• 51 applicants waiting for four bed accommodation
• 4 applicants waiting for five bed accommodation

Supply of properties:Rother District Council operates a choice based lettings scheme called Homemove which began in April 2008. Since this time the following numbers of properties have become available.

(HOPS – Homes for older persons)

Based on these figures the average number of properties vacant per fortnightly bidding round are:

• 2.5 - One bed properties available per bidding round
• 4 - One bed HOPS available per bidding round
• 4 - Two bed properties available per bidding round
• 0 - Two bed HOPS available per bidding round
• 1.5 - Three bed properties available per bidding round
• 0 - Four bed properties available per bidding round
• 0 - Five bed properties available per bidding round

The majority of social housing in the Rother area is in Bexhill-on-Sea and so applicants wishing to reside in any other area within Rother should be aware that properties in these areas are minimal and rarely become available.

How long will I wait for a home?
It is difficult to predict exactly how long you will have to wait for social housing but the figures set out above are a good guide to help you decide what your best options may be. As you can see most applicants will have to wait several years or may never access a housing association home.

OCT 2010

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