Sefton Council has begun a consultation, along with local authorities in the Liverpool City Region, on how social housing is allocated and are asking tenants and future tenants, residents, landlords and housing associations to have their say.

Property Pool Plus is the system used to match people with social housing and is used by Sefton along with the local authorities in the Liverpool City Region.

The consultation invites residents, landlords, voluntary organisations, and housing associations to comment and provide feedback on the proposed changes to how social housing is allocated.

Social housing is allocated through several different ways – considering a resident’s eligibility, choice, preference, and priority – and proposed changes are suggested to each of these.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said:

“This consultation will ensure that people right across Sefton can help to shape how social housing is allocated to residents, and ensure that the process takes into account all factors within an individual’s personal circumstances.

“We would encourage as many residents, current and prospective tenants, as well as landlords and housing associations to utilise this opportunity to help enhance the process for matching homes with people across the Borough.”

The proposed changes plan to the make social housing allocation process more accessible and quicker for those who need it most by assigning certain people with more priority based on their situation.

Some criteria that may place someone in a higher priority could include:

People who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
Victims of domestic abuse, racial abuse or hate crime
Members of the armed forces and reserved forces
Medical need
To find out more information about the changes to the policy and to take part in the consultation, people can visit www.sefton.gov.uk/PPP-HaveYourSay.

The consultation will take place for 12 weeks, running from Wednesday 18th November 2020 to Wednesday 10th February 2021.

Authorities in the Liverpool City Region will all simultaneously be undertaking this survey, the authorities include Halton Borough Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Liverpool City Council, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council and Wirral Council.

What about retired people living in a 3 bed house. If the moved into 1 bed. House OK for a family.

There is no life time tenancy on a Council house.