In 2022-23, Barking and Dagenham has the 21st highest waiting list in London with 4,337 households on its housing register.
Compared to the other nine East London boroughs, Barking and Dagenham has the third lowest total waiting list, ahead of Havering and Bexley councils.
The borough also has the third highest total of council homes in East London at 16,457 dwellings, compared to Greenwich on 20,842 and Hackney on 21,597 homes. For social housing managed by other registered providers, Barking and Dagenham has the 6th lowest total in London at 5,622 social homes.
For one-bedroom properties, Barking and Dagenham has the third lowest waiting time at 304 days, just above Brent on 292 days and Sutton on 184 days. For two-bedroom properties the borough has the second lowest waiting time at 1,009 days, making it the ninth lowest waiting time for two-bedroom properties in London.
For larger properties, the borough also has lower waiting times than the London and East London average, with a 1,125-day waiting time for three-bedroom properties and 1,065 waiting time for homes with four or more bedrooms.
The borough’s lower waiting times for larger properties are also below the average for Outer London at 1,449 days and 1,676 days for three bedroom and four or more-bedroom properties, respectively. This is intrinsically linked to the local authority’s larger area and lower housing density, below the London average at 6,030 residents per square km.
Barking and Dagenham Council’s housing allocation policy identifies five levels of priority of reasonable preference as defined by the Housing Act 1996. The council also includes a separate banding for applications with additional preferences such as urgent housing need or non-statutory reasons not included in the Housing Act’s definition.
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.