Joining Wandsworth's housing register would take five years' residence out of the last seven, under plans now out to consultation. Comment by 18 January 2027.
People would need to have lived in Wandsworth for five of the last seven years to qualify for its housing register, under changes now out to consultation. The current test is three continuous years. The consultation closes on 18 January 2027.
The rules decide who gets a social home, and in what order. The register stood at 9,686 at the end of March.
The council is frank about the limit of the plan. The changes “would not create more social housing”, its consultation page says. Waits are “still likely to be very lengthy”. Some people would move up, and others would move down.
What would change
The consultation page sets out five main proposals:
- Residency: five years out of the last seven, living in the borough when you apply. Breaks in residence would be allowed. Today, anyone short of three continuous years usually goes in Band D, or the lowest available band.
- Private renting: homeless households who find their own private rented home would keep their place on the register. Today they can lose it.
- Bidding: those households, and some others including social tenants seeking a transfer, could bid for homes they want. Households staying in temporary accommodation would still be matched to a home.
- Single homeless people: some could be offered one-bedroom homes, not mainly studios.
- Downsizing: tenants giving up even one bedroom would get Band A, the top band. Today that takes two.
There would be safeguards on residency for groups including people fleeing violence or domestic abuse, some care-experienced young people and former Armed Forces members.
What the Cabinet paper adds
The Cabinet appendix linked from the consultation goes further than the headline list.
- Band A would go for homeless households in bed and breakfast, and for “urgent” homeless households in temporary accommodation. The council says the answer is to find them better temporary accommodation. A senior officer panel would consider exceptional cases.
- Bidders must keep bidding. No bid in 12 months brings a warning. After 18 months without one, the application would be closed.
- Refusing a studio after a suitability assessment would end the housing duty and the temporary accommodation.
- Long waits would earn points. Households in temporary accommodation for more than five years would get 50 extra points.
- Single people and childless couples over 55 who qualify would join the sheltered housing register automatically.
The equality assessment says the Band A change would remove priority from households with “acute temporary accommodation issues”. It also says the residency change may negatively affect some applicants.
How long people wait now
The appendix gives average waits for households moving from temporary accommodation to social housing in 2025/26.
| Home size | Wandsworth | Lambeth | Richmond |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-bed | 27 months | 72 months | 12 months |
| 2-bed | 49 months | 108 months | 23 months |
| 3-bed | 64 months | 132 months | 42 months |
| 4-bed or larger | 79 months | 96 months | 99 months |
Neighbours differ on residency too. Merton asks for one year and Lambeth for two. Southwark and Kingston ask for five in a row. Hammersmith and Fulham and Camden already use five out of seven, and Richmond is consulting on it.
Why the council wants this
Money is a large part of the case. Cllr Matthew Corner, Cabinet Member for Housing, said temporary accommodation spending “has soared by around 700% since the start of the decade”.
Cabinet Paper 26-247 puts the average net cost at £14,500 per household a year. Other councils with similar schemes report 10% to 20% fewer households entering temporary accommodation. Applied here, the paper says, that means about 130 to 260 households and £1.89m to £3.77m a year. A new IT system and engagement would cost a one-off £300,000.
What it means for you
You do not have to be on the register to respond. If you are on it, in temporary accommodation or a council tenant thinking of downsizing, these rules directly affect you.
- Respond online through the survey by 18 January 2027.
- Ask for another format at consult@wandsworth.gov.uk or on 020 8871 6000.
- Go to a session on Wednesday 2 December at Earlsfield Library, 276 Magdalen Road. They run 3.30pm to 5pm and 6pm to 7.30pm, and both are the same.
Nothing changes yet. Findings are due in spring 2027. The indicative timetable has Cabinet deciding in June 2027, then every application being reassessed. A new scheme would start in March 2028.
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