10 years for everyone on Lewisham waiting list to be housed – but only if nobody else puts their name down

By Grainne Cuffe, Local Democracy Reporter

It would take 10 years to get everyone waiting for housing in Lewisham homed – even if no one else was added to the list in that time, according to a new report.

The report on the Annual Lettings Plan, approved last week at a mayoral meeting via conference call with the cabinet, sets out how the council intends to let its homes in 2020/21.

There are currently just over 9,500 households on the housing register – 8,776 of whom have been on it for more than six months.

Earlier this year it was revealed that more than 2,000 people on the list for a permanent home in Lewisham had been waiting a decade or more.

Of those waiting between three and 10 years, 65 per cent have been waiting three or more years, while 47.5 per cent have been waiting five years or more, and 23.3 per cent have been waiting a decade or more.

According to the report, which projects that 860 homes will be available to let in 2020/21, “based on current projections, and with no additional applications to the housing register, it would take over 10 years for all applicants on the register to receive a property”.

Cabinet member for housing, Councillor Paul Bell, said Lewisham was “facing the severe effects of a housing crisis”.

He said: “Everyone deserves a safe, affordable and decent place to live, which is why one of this administration’s top priorities is to deliver more social homes for local people.

“We are delivering the largest social home-building programme in the borough in a generation, as fast as we can.

“We know that there is currently not enough social housing available in Lewisham for everyone who needs it, and the number of social homes available to let is decreasing each year.

“This year there were less than 1,000 social homes to let. At the same time there are nearly 10,000 families on our housing register and around 2,300 who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation.

“The council is responding in a number of ways to the housing crisis, including delivering new homes for those in greatest need, procuring social homes through the market, and intervening to protect people at risk of homelessness.”

Pictured top: Lewisham civic centre in Catford