Ealing has the eighth highest waiting list across all London boroughs and the second highest waiting list in West London with 12,669 households. The borough has less households on its waiting list than neighbouring Brent which has 28,150 households waiting – the third highest waiting list in London. Ealing’s nearest comparison in West London is Hounslow which has a waiting list of 7,899 households.
However, more recent data from the borough suggests its housing register could have decreased to around 7,700.
Out of West London’s seven boroughs, Ealing has the third highest waiting time for one-bedroom properties at 507 days, making the borough the ninth highest waiting time for one-bedroom homes across all London boroughs and is below the London average.
For a two-bedroom property, households wait 1,044 days on average, making the borough the 11th shortest waiting time for this property size in London. However, for larger, family-sized properties, Ealing’s waiting times are substantially higher. Households requiring a three-bedroom property wait 1,871 days, which is three days higher than the London average of 1,868 days.
Properties with four bedrooms or more have waiting times of 2,433 days, or six years and eight months. While this is below the London average 2,248 days, this gives Ealing the third highest waiting time for four or more-bedroom properties in West London and above the sub-regional average for West London of 2,154 days.
With 24,137 social homes in the borough managed by the local authority and private registered providers, Ealing is close to the average across all London boroughs (24,761 homes). This also gives Ealing the third highest number of social homes in West London behind Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham, which have 28,149 homes and 25,918 homes respectively. Ealing also has the third highest population density in West London at 6,694 residents per square km, reflecting its waiting times and total stock being close to averages across the sub-region.
Ealing Council operates a three-tier banding system as part of its housing allocations scheme, assigned in order of urgency. Band A households will have emergency or top priority housing needs as a result of medical or social welfare concerns or have been allocated for decanting due to a permanent move or regeneration work. Band B represents households owed statutory homelessness duty, in overcrowded accommodation, or are former Ealing Council service tenants. Band C represents households at the applications of acquiring homelessness duty or living in lower priority overcrowded and unsanitary housing.
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.