Housing register bands and priority: how councils decide who gets housed first

On a council housing waiting list? You have likely been placed in a band. Bands decide who gets housed first. Knowing how they work helps you make sense of your place in the queue. Here is how the bands work.

What is the housing register?

The housing register, also called the waiting list, is the council's list of people who asked for social housing. It covers council homes and the housing association homes the council hands out.

Not everyone who applies gets on. Councils can limit who qualifies. Once on the list, your place rests on your band and the date you joined.

What are housing bands?

Councils usually split the register into bands, sometimes called priority groups, from highest to lowest:

Band A, the highest: households with the most urgent need. Usually that means:

• People homeless and in emergency need
• People fleeing domestic abuse
• People whose serious medical or welfare needs tie straight to housing
• Households packed into badly overcrowded homes

Band B: serious need, short of an emergency right now. It takes in strong medical need, overcrowding, and people facing eviction.

Band C, or lower: a housing need with lower priority. Most people overcrowded or in poor conditions, but not in danger right now, sit here.

No priority, or ineligible: people who do not qualify, carry a history of anti-social behaviour, or own a home.

Exact bands and rules vary council to council. The details sit in your council's allocation policy. It is a public paper on the council website.

What affects your band?

Things that can raise your priority:

• Medical evidence that the current home is harming your health
• Overcrowding by the legal measure: people counted against bedrooms
• Formal acceptance as homeless, owed a housing duty
• A connection to the area
• Long-standing need and time on the register

What is a medical assessment?

Health suffering from the housing? Ask the council for a medical assessment. A doctor or occupational therapist may weigh how the home hits your health, then back a higher band.

This matters most where the home carries damp, mould, failed heating, or structural problems that touched your health.

How long will I wait?

Waits vary hugely, from months to many years. Your band, the area, and how many homes come up all feed in. High-demand areas like London can keep even urgent cases waiting long.

Disagree with your band? Ask for a review, within 21 days of the decision or whatever limit the council sets.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

We help tenants with housing disrepair claims. A home in disrepair that harms your health may give you claim evidence. The same evidence can back a medical priority bid.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Housing Act 1996, Part 6 (allocation of housing accommodation) (legislation.gov.uk)