Lewisham has the tenth highest number of households on a local authority housing register in London with 10,694 households. It is also the seventh highest waiting list of any Inner London local authority, with Lambeth as the highest at more than 35,000 households.
Similar to other Inner London boroughs, Lewisham has long waiting times for social homes of all sizes. However, this is disproportionately experienced by households waiting for a one-bedroom property, a wait of 2,208 days. This is the highest waiting time for a one-bedroom property in London and equates to just over six years. The borough’s nearest comparison for a waiting time for a one-bedroom property of this length is Tower Hamlets on 2,008 days, equivalent to five years and six months.
Higher waiting times are also experienced for two-bedroom properties with an average wait of 1,907 days. This is the fourth highest in London, with Hackney having the highest wait at 5,658 days.
Lewisham’s waiting times for three-bedroom properties do not conform to wider pan-London trends as they are lower than waiting times for both one- and two-bedroom properties. In Lewisham, three-bedroom properties have waiting times of 1,624 days, which while remaining high (four years, five months) is lower than times for smaller properties. Lewisham also breaks with wider pan-London trends in having a waiting time for four or more-bedroom properties of 2,126 days, which is below its average for one-bedroom properties.
Lewisham’s waiting times for larger properties are below the London average for both property sizes (1,863 days for 3 bedrooms; 2,304 days for 4+ bedrooms) with the borough the 17th highest waiting time for three-bedroom properties in London, and 13th highest for properties with four or more bedrooms.
As the 13th most densely populated borough in London with 9,270 residents per square km, Lewisham has a higher number of social homes compared to other Inner London boroughs with higher population density. The latest official data shows Lewisham has 37,401 social homes in the borough, 14,092 of which are council houses managed by the local authority. Private registered providers manage the fourth highest number of privately managed social homes in London at 23,309.
Lewisham’s housing allocation policy is a system of four priority bands reflecting their urgency for rehousing by reasonable preference. This is evaluated through assessing household applications and their personal circumstances, which may include health and welfare needs, statutory homelessness status, overcrowding and housing conditions.
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.