Swindon Council’s January 2013 Housing List figures shows a continued rise in households on there. There are 15,093 households on the List. 12,784 are on the Waiting List and 2,309 on the Transfer List. The Transfer List includes existing tenants of the Council and local Housing Associations who have asked for a move and/or are considered to be over-crowded, needing more bedrooms.
For the first time the numbers on Bands A (in ‘urgent need’) and B (‘in need’) has gone above 7,000; 7,010 to be precise. Of these, 4,422 households qualify for a one bedroom property (excluding 150 OAP couples who qualify for one or two bed homes). Since more than 600 existing tenant households who are caught by the ‘bedroom’ tax would have to move to a one bed property to avoid having to pay, this means there are over 5,000 households that qualify for one bed. However, since the Council only gave out just over 100 1 bedroom tenancies last year it would take 50 years to accommodate all of them. In reality you can see that without new building many of these people will never get a Council tenancy.
The latest figure for households subject to the ‘bedroom tax’ that have ‘downsized’ into smaller accommodation is 43, which underlines how this legislation will have little impact on the housing shortage.
Swindon Borough Council Housing List January 2013
| Waiting List | Number | Percentage | Qualify for |
| Total of households |
12,784 |
||
| Bands A and B |
5,999 |
46.9% of total households |
|
| Single People |
3,419 |
57% of Bands A and B |
1 Bed |
| Couple no dependants |
472 |
7.87% |
1 Bed |
| Parent(s) with more than 5 dependants |
21 |
0.35% |
4 or 5 Bed |
| Parent(s) with 2 to 4 depedants |
793 |
13.2% |
2 or 3 Bed |
| Parent(s) with 1 dependant |
948 |
15.8% |
2 Bed |
| OAP family with 2 dependant |
1 |
3 Bed | |
| OAP family with 1 dependant |
12 |
2 Bed | |
| OAP couple |
94 |
1.5% |
1 or 2 Bed |
| OAP single person |
239 |
4% |
1 Bed |
| Transfer List | |||
| Total of Households |
2,309 |
||
| Bands A and B |
1,011 |
43.8% of total households |
|
| Single People |
145 |
14.34% of Bands A and B |
1 Bed |
| Couple no dependants |
45 |
4.45% |
1 Bed |
| Parent(s) with more than 5 dependants |
41 |
4% |
4 or 5 Bed |
| Parent(s) with 2 to 4 depedants |
428 |
42.33% |
2 or 3 Bed |
| Parent(s) with 1 dependant |
153 |
15.13% |
2 Bed |
| OAP family with 2 dependant |
0 |
3 Bed | |
| OAP family with 1 dependant |
11 |
1.08% |
2 Bed |
| OAP couple |
56 |
5.4% |
1 or 2 Bed |
| OAP single person |
132 |
13% |
1 Bed |
Swindon Tenants Campaign Group 