Thousands face removal from housing register

More than 3,000 people could be taken off a council's housing register after the authority suggested changes to its allocation scheme that will focus on housing those with "priority need".

North Northamptonshire Council's existing housing system ranks households based on their needs between bands of A to E, and how long they have been on the waiting list.

But under proposed changes, all applicants in the lower two bands, including homeowners, those sharing a property with others and those with a local connection to a village will be completely removed.

The Reform UK-controlled council said it would retain the right to look at "exceptional circumstances", such as disability.

Speaking at Tuesday's meeting about the plans, Conservative councillor Helen Howell said the changes would "come as a big blow" to the thousands who would no longer be eligible for council housing.

However, the council's report on the proposed changes insists that the impact on these households was expected to be "minimal", as their prospects of being housed via the housing register were already "unrealistic and/or non-existent".

From April 2022 to April 2025, the housing register increased from 2,937 applicants to 6,727. In comparison, just 1,528 social homes were let in 2024-25.

Samantha Dickson, the council's housing options manager, said: "For those applicants who are least likely to be housed, we want to be able to concentrate and focus on providing those applicants with support on how to explore alternative housing options."

The updated scheme will also make young people leaving care, adults in social care looking to move into independent living, and domestic abuse victims with a connection to North Northamptonshire a higher priority.

Assistant director for strategic housing, Evonne Coleman-Thomas, told the meeting: "We're not in the place where we were probably 50, 60 years ago, when you could just walk up to the council and go 'I'll have that house please'.

"We know that all of these conversations are difficult, but I fundamentally do believe that the work that colleagues have done around the legislation and listening to what our residents tell us, that this is really a positive move for us."

The report will go before the council's executive in October before a six-week consultation period begins with all applicants currently on the housing register to be notified.

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