Cornwall needs a ‘fairer, honest’ housing waiting list

Cornwall Council members will be asked next week to support a fairer, clearer and honest housing waiting list to give applicants “the truth about their situation” within a system that is currently “opaque and difficult to navigate”.

A meeting of the full council on Tuesday (September 15) will discuss a motion, A Fairer, Clearer Housing List for Cornwall, proposed by Liberal Democrat councillor Steven Webb, seconded by Independent councillor Mike Thomas and supported by Independent, Lib Dem, Green and Labour members.

Cornwall’s social and affordable housing register has grown from approximately 9,000 households in March 2020 to around 25,000 today. About 500 new applications are received each month, while approximately 120 households are housed.

More than 800 people are in temporary and emergency accommodation at a cost of approximately £10 million a year. “Behind each of these numbers is a household waiting, often for years, within a system that they experience as opaque and difficult to navigate,” says Cllr Webb’s motion.

Liberal Democrat councillor Steven Webb (Pic: courtesy of Steven Webb)

“This motion asks for two things. The first is honesty. Applicants on the register currently have no published way of understanding their realistic prospects – how many households are waiting for the same size of home in their area, how many such homes were let last year or how long comparable households have typically waited.

“A published prospects dashboard would give applicants the truth about their situation, help them make informed decisions about their own housing options and reduce the friction and uncertainty the register currently generates.”

The motion adds: “The second is fairness. The current framework counts bedrooms missing, but it cannot see the difference between children sharing a bedroom and parents who are required to share their only bedroom with their children. Those situations are not equivalent in their impact on family relationships and private life, yet they are banded identically.”

The council will be asked to support a recommendation that the council’s cabinet brings forward, as part of a March 2027 annual review of the Homechoice Allocations Scheme, proposals for a published Cornwall Homechoice prospects dashboard.

The suggestion is it should be a regularly updated, “plain English” picture of the register which could include the number of households waiting by band and bedroom need, the number of homes let and to which bands and typical waiting times by area and property size.

The cabinet would also be asked to endorse that the allocations framework should recognise the impact of overcrowding on family relationships and private life.