Scale of Birmingham housing waiting list laid bare
The scale of Birmingham City Council’s social housing waiting list backlog has been laid bare in a new report.
Thousands of people across the city, some in desperate situations, are seeking a council home amid a “severe” housing crisis, with the authority previously warning of the “immense strain” that this is causing.
A report on housing and homelessness, set to be discussed at a meeting of the city council next week, painted a bleak picture of the housing situation in Birmingham.
It stated that the number of households on the housing register continues to grow, adding there are now almost 23,500 live applications.
“The service continues to receive significant demand for accommodation via the housing register,” the report by the cabinet member for housing warned.
“In 2023-24, an average of 447 applications were received each week, with an average of 490 assessments being completed.”
“The service does however carry a significant backlog of applications due to historical recruitment issues and consistently high volume of applications,” it continued.
