Wiltshire Council struggling to meet affordable and social housing needs

The authority's admitted it's unlikely to reach their annual targets

Author: Jessica Moriarty - Local Democracy ReporterPublished 15th Nov 2023
Last updated 27th Nov 2023

Wiltshire Council has admitted it's struggling to deliver as many affordable homes as it set out to, this financial year.

The plan was to deliver 650 homes through the planning system - including in Salisbury - but by the end of September, the number stopped at 235.

In 2022/23, Wiltshire achieved seven dwellings below the target, providing a total of 643 affordable homes.

As of August 2023, there were 4,294 applicants on Wiltshire’s housing register.

234 of those are in Amesbury with 732 in Salisbury.

A Wiltshire Council task group has made several recommendations, such as supporting multi-tenancies for unrelated adults when appropriate, but also acknowledged the difficulties posed by the increase in demand:

“The current housing allocations process is complex, difficult to navigate and is raising false expectations. There are a large number of people on the register, many of whom have no prospect of bidding successfully. There is not enough stock for everyone who needs housing and housing needs have increased.”

According to the task group’s report, many people remain on the housing register for months or even years.

Applicants who are more vulnerable are prioritised, such as those fleeing domestic abuse or dealing with homelessness.

The report concluded:

“There is clearly a lack of supply across the housing market, which affects the number of properties available as social housing.

“With rental prices increasing and fewer properties available demand for social housing rises.

“It is actually not certain how many social properties there are to rent in Wiltshire, but planning and delivering an increased number of social houses would ease the pressure upon the housing register.”

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