WITH DEMAND for social housing at record levels and more than 10,000 households on the waiting list, Cardiff Council is set to consider a series of changes to the city’s Social Housing Allocation Scheme, aiming to make the system fairer and ensure that homes are allocated to those with the greatest need.
The Council, working in partnership with local housing associations, operates a joint Social Housing Waiting List. Applicants are assessed for both housing need and local connection, and are placed into priority bands to help ensure that available properties are allocated fairly, to those with the highest need.
Despite there being around 26,600 social homes in Cardiff, only a small percentage become available to let each year. Over the past three years, the number of annual lets has ranged between 1,248 and 1,680. The shortage is particularly acute for larger family homes, meaning some households wait years for a suitable property.
To address these pressures, the Council is delivering new, high-quality, low-carbon homes, acquiring properties from the open market, bringing empty homes back into use, extending existing homes for larger families, and supporting residents to “rightsize” or access affordable private rentals.
Despite this work, there are still not enough council and housing association homes for those who need them, it is therefore necessary to prioritise the homes that do become available to ensure that they are let to those who need them most.
At its meeting this Thursday (December 18), Cabinet will consider launching a public consultation on a range of proposals, including:
- Creating a new priority band for overcrowded households with additional complex needs: Families who are both overcrowded and face significant challenges (such as disability or health issues) would be given higher priority for rehousing.
- Counting parlour rooms as bedrooms: Additional downstairs living spaces would be recognised as bedrooms for allocation of housing and overcrowding assessments, helping to make best use of available housing stock.
- Raising the age for same-sex bedroom sharing to 25: This would align Cardiff’s policy with other housing services and benefit guidelines, ensuring larger homes are prioritised for families with the greatest need.
- Giving higher priority to households with complex needs who are threatened with homelessness: This would enabling quicker access to permanent social housing and prevent the need to for these households to move into unsuitable temporary accommodation.
- Restricting the waiting list to those with an assessed housing need and a local connection to Cardiff: Only applicants who can demonstrate both housing need and local connection to Cardiff would be eligible to go onto the waiting list, ensuring social housing is allocated to those who need it most and have genuine ties to the city.
If approved by Cabinet, a six-week public consultation will begin on February 9, 2026. The Council is committed to ensuring these proposals are shaped by the views and experiences of Cardiff residents and stakeholders. The consultation will be available online and in paper form, with support for those who need help to take part.
Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: “Demand for social housing in Cardiff far exceeds supply, and many families are waiting years for a suitable home to become available.
“The Council and our housing association partners are delivering more affordable accommodation at scale and pace right across the city but despite all this good work, there are still not enough homes.
“We need to review and amend the allocation scheme to make sure that the homes we do have are let to those who need them most.”
To read the full Cabinet report, visit Agenda for Cabinet on Thursday, 18th December, 2025, 2.00 pm : Cardiff Council
Ahead of that meeting, Community and Adult Services Scrutiny Committee will discuss the proposals on Monday (December 15) at 4.30pm. The agenda for that meeting is available here and the meeting will be webcast here Home – Cardiff Council Webcasting
