Wandsworth has the second highest waiting list in South London at 9,793 households on the local authority’s housing register, below neighbouring Merton on 10,070 households. For London overall, Wandsworth has the 12th highest waiting list. However, more recent data from the borough suggests its total could be around 13,600.
For waiting times, Wandsworth has the 15th highest wait for a one-bedroom property in London at 608 days, placing it as the highest wait for this property type in South London. Two-bedroom properties in the borough have average waiting times of 1,156 days, making it the 16th highest wait in London and highest in South London.
Larger, family-sized properties with three bedrooms have waiting times of 1,612 days, which is both below the London average (1,863 days) for this property type and the 19th highest in London. Properties with four or more bedrooms have waiting times of 2,190 days, which is joint 11th in London alongside Islington.
Wandsworth is London’s 12th most densely populated borough with 10,164 residents per square km, which is reflected in the borough’s lower waiting times for smaller properties. Overall, Wandsworth has a total social housing stock of 28,811 social homes, managed both by the local authority and private registered providers. This total has increased marginally since 2010 when there were 27,131 social homes in the borough.
Wandsworth Council’s housing allocations policy operates a hybrid points-based system of four bands reflecting priority need for households grouped by their category of reasonable preference. Bands A-D are highest priority households reflecting exceptional housing need and are allocated housing on a date basis, as well as the severity of need displayed by reasonable preferences. This includes whether the applicant household is owed statutory homelessness duty, has urgent health or welfare needs, lives in overcrowded or unsanitary accommodation, or is an existing tenant seeking transfer or rehousing due to under-occupation or decants.
Sources:
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local Authority Housing Statistics data returns for 2022 to 2023
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Live tables on rents, lettings and tenancies; numbers of households on local authorities’ housing waiting lists, by district, England, from 1987
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants); Dwelling stock by local authority and region, England, 2009-2023
- Office for National Statistics, Mid-Year Population Estimates, England and Wales, June 2023
- Greater London Authority, Land Area and Population Density, Ward and Borough data for 2023
- Sub-regions as defined by The London Plan
*A note on data sources. In order to provide comparisons of different local authorities total waiting lists, due to some boroughs not providing up to date information on the number of people on their social housing register we have used the most recent data (2022-23) published by MHCLG. Where boroughs provided us with more recent data, we have noted this.