Peterborough household’s 28 year wait on housing register as hundreds on list for a decade

There are currently 5,240 people waiting on the register to access social housing, with 433 applications registered with the city council for 11 years or more.

Moreover, 1,325 households have been on the list for between five and 10 years.

The council said the number of the people on the housing register is due to reduce to approximately 3,500 in the next month after a review revealed a “number of inactive applications”.

A spokesperson said: “The housing register is a live database system and, although an applicant may have been registered for a significant length of time, their circumstances are likely to have changed a number of times since first registration.

“Social housing is in acute demand and it is not uncommon for applicants to be waiting for some time before getting to a point where they are successful in receiving an offer of accommodation.

“For those who are currently residing in accommodation which meets their needs their priority will be low and those with a greater need will always be prioritised ahead of them.”

The figures have been released as part of a Freedom of Information request, although no further information has been given on why one household has remained on the register for 28 years - the longest wait of all.

However, the council said: “For context, while an applicant may have been registered with us for a number of years their housing circumstances are likely to have changed a number of times and their live status and priority will have been adjusted as a result.”

Social housing is allocated to households based on priority need.

There were 167 households removed from the housing register in 2020 with reasons including being allocated a property, the household already being adequately housed, an error with the application or death.

Last year, 18 applications were removed from the list because of death.