Century-long wait for some family council homes in London

BBC News

09-04-2025

The waiting list for a family-sized social rented home in some London boroughs would now take over a century to clear completely at the current rate of progress, new research has found.Analysis by the National Housing Federation (NHF) found that families wanting properties with three or more bedrooms in Westminster, Enfield and Merton would all have to wait over 100 years to get a home at current rates.The average estimate across London was much lower at 27 years, and the average across the whole of England was seven years.The government said the report highlighted the "devastating impact of the social housing crisis" and added that it was investing £2bn into social housing in England.
Kate Henderson, the NHF's chief executive, said: "The fact that families in so many parts of the country face waiting lists for an affordable home longer than their children's entire childhood is a national scandal."Chiara Daughtry, a mother of one from north-east London, told BBC Radio London that she was offered a house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, when she faced a no-fault eviction due to the long wait time."My job is here, my daughter's in school here, and my family and friends are here in London," she said.The schoolteacher said she eventually got into a privately rented one-bedroom flat but said it was "really hard" to meet the £1,600 a month in rent and childcare costs.
Ms Daughtry said council housing would give herself and daughter more stability."I could be evicted again. I have no idea if my landlord will let me stay. I've already had one rent increase in two years, and if it continues then I won't be able to continue to stay living here," she said.
In January, it was revealed that the total number of households on waiting lists for social housing in London last year hit the highest level for more than a decade.A total of 336,366 households were waiting home in the capital as of 1 April 2024.
Eight of the 10 local authorities in England with the longest estimated timescales to clear the backlog are in London:Westminster – 106.7Enfield – 105.3Merton – 102.4Wandsworth – 82.0Camden – 81.8Mansfield – 75.5Slough – 74.3Redbridge – 74.3Greenwich – 67.1Newham – 42.5
'Impossible situations'
In a joint message with the charities Crisis and Shelter, the NHF is calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to put major investment into social housing in her spending review in June."Every day our front-line services hear from desperate parents forced into impossible situations," said Mairi MacRae, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter.A spokesman for London Councils – the capital's local government association – said in response to the NHF's research: "The growing number of Londoners stuck on waiting lists for social housing is evidence of the capital's worsening housing and homelessness emergency."He said that one in 50 Londoners was homeless and the boroughs were "doing everything we can to build the affordable homes our communities are crying out for" but do not have enough resources.
A spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was embarking on the "biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation" and investing in homelessness services.Housing minister Matthew Pennycook also pointed out in answer to a recent written question on the topic that the number of people on the housing waiting list list is "not the same as the number of households waiting" with councils reviewing them to establish who no longer requires a social home.