Revamp planned on how social housing in Portsmouth is allocated amid a surge of homelessness in the city

Portsmouth City Council will launch a consultation between May 14 and June 24 to understand how it can allocate social housing more effectively. The last time the council reviewed its allocation policy was in 2019, but Shane Galvin, a senior officer, said the housing situation in Portsmouth has changed “significantly” since then.

He explained that greater levels of homelessness are having an impact on the housing register “to the extent the majority are now homeless households whereas the register itself is made up of a relatively small portion of those households”. He added that properties that do become available go to people in high-priority bands, with very few going to low and medium.

The consultation will ask private registered social housing providers, residents and members of the rough sleeping partnership group. It will focus on the relationship between homelessness and the housing register, the labelling and perception of priority bands, the council’s performance of the armed forces covenant and direct nomination agreements with partnership organisations. The most common causes of homelessness in Portsmouth are evictions from family or private landlords, domestic abuse and relationship breakdown.

Cabinet member for housing and tackling homelessness Councillor Darren Sanders said that while the causes of homelessness have remained the same the volume has increased. He added this is occurring across the country and is down to factors related to the cost of living crisis. Councillor Cal Corkery asked whether the council could use an online choice-based system to manage allocations, however, he acknowledged potential “pros and cons”. “One pro I can immediately think of is giving people that choice – it hopefully avoids issues later down the line,” he said.

In response, officers said that such a system could be considered within the council’s homelessness strategy. In closing, Cllr Sanders said “it’s time” the policy is reviewed as he’s “had concerns for a while about the allocations system”.