Cornwall Council to change housing priority rules
'Severe housing crisis'
Monk said there were 25,000 homes on Homechoice but only 4% became available to bid on each year. "Post-Covid, our housing crisis has become even more severe, with a doubling of the number of applicants for social housing and increasing numbers of families and people in temporary and emergency accommodation," he said.The council said the policy aimed to reinforce "local connection criteria" to support residents to live in the place where they grew up or currently live or work.It said its previous allocations policy prioritised "primary connection households" – which sometimes meant greater priority was given to people with a connection to a location, rather than their need.
It added the policy "aims to balance the duties we have to prioritise those in most housing need alongside the importance for many parishes about local connection".The new policy would be reviewed annually to ensure it was "operating as expected" and could be adjusted if required, it added.
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