Birmingham council housing waiting list could close

Birmingham City Council said it had 11,000 applications yet to be processed

A waiting list for social housing in Birmingham could be closed to new applicants because of a backlog.

The city council said it had 23,000 households on its register and another 11,000 applications which were yet to be assessed.

More than 400 new applications have been received each week.

It recently warned the shortage of accommodation was "severely restricting" the options it could offer to people in need.

The council had previously encouraged those in housing need to look at all options, including applying to housing associations and considering the private rented sector.

It said in a typical year it would only be able to allocate between 2,000 and 3,000 homes.

The council's website has warned the demand to rent social housing is greater than the number of properties it has available.

No decision made

It said a review of its social housing register was being carried out and one of the options being considered was closing it to new applicants.

But it said no decision had yet been made and if the register is closed, it would ensure those in "exceptional circumstances" would still be considered.

The council is currently planning cuts to services to help it recover from a financial crisis which led to it effectively declaring bankruptcy.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.