The council are currently reviewing their lettings policy, which sets out how Council housing in Sheffield is let or allocated.
There will be a drop in session on:
Monday 21st November at Burngreave Housing Office (10.30am-12.30pm).
Please go along if you would like to have your say in person.
Alternatively you can complete the online questionnaire
For more information visit http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/allocationspolicyreview
How should council housing be allocated in Sheffield?
Press release from Sheffield City Council
Arrangements for how Council housing is allocated in Sheffield are under the spotlight as a new consultation is launched.
The aim of any new policy will be to ensure that the 4,000 properties let by the Council on average each year, along with other social housing properties advertised, are allocated fairly.
Councillor Harry Harpham, Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, said:
"We are issuing a call to action for everyone in the city, not just Council tenants, to get in touch and have their say. A lot has changed since the current Housing Allocation policy was put in place in 2002, and we need to make sure resources are being used effectively and in a way which reflects what the people of Sheffield want to see.
“Of course we have and will always have, robust procedures in place to make sure that Council homes go to those most in need. But where there isn’t a priority award, this consultation is looking at how these homes are allocated.”
The consultation is looking at elements of the policy such as whether allocations should be means tested, whether the size of property and number of bedrooms should be limited for smaller households, and whether fewer properties should be age banded.
Anyone can join the Housing Register in Sheffield, which has resulted in a large number of people who do not need or want a Council property at the moment joining the list in order to accrue ‘waiting time’. The number of households currently on the Housing Register stands at 93,500 but with just less than one fifth, 18,500 actively seeking to move house. Neither of these figures is a reflection of the need for housing in the city.
The consultation will be running from now until the end of January 2012.
You can contact the team in the following ways:
Email: allocationspolicyreview@sheffield.gov.uk
Write to:
Allocations Policy Review, Sheffield City Council, New Bank House, First Floor, 100 Queen Street, Sheffield S1 2WA.
Telephone: 0114 205 7333
Or fill in the online questionnaire located at http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/allocationspolicyreview