Care leavers and locals to get housing priority

Rotherham Council is updating its Housing Allocation Policy to give priority to care leavers and local residents

Care leavers and local residents in Rotherham are to be given greater priority when bidding for social housing under a new policy agreed by councillors.

Rotherham Council's cabinet is set to sign off a wide-ranging update to its Housing Allocation Policy on 15 September, marking the first major overhaul since 2014.

The new rules, due to come into force from December, will shape how council homes are allocated across the borough for the next five years.

It said the overhaul follows a 12-week public consultation, with more than 200 responses received.

Young people leaving care will now be placed in the highest priority housing band, helping them move on to independent accommodation when ready, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Out-of-borough care leavers will receive lower priority unless reciprocal agreements are in place with other councils.

The policy also tightens residency rules, meaning applicants will normally need to have lived or worked in Rotherham for three of the past four years to qualify.

Council leaders said the move was aimed at ensuring local families were at the front of the queue.

Other changes include stricter rules on applicants evicted from past tenancies, though exemptions will apply if rent arrears have been repaid in full, and revisions to tenancy types for people without indefinite leave to remain.

Demand for council housing in the borough has risen to record levels, with a report revealing that every property advertised received an average of 93 bids - an 80% rise since 2022.

In 2018 the authority pledged to deliver 1,000 new council homes by 2027, with more than 700 already being built or bought.

However, almost as many have been lost during the same period through the Right to Buy scheme.

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