Redbridge has the 16th highest waiting list for social housing in London with 7,517 households on the local authority’s housing register. This total has gradually increased since 2017 when 5,408 households were on the housing register.
The borough’s total housing register makes Redbridge the seventh highest waiting list in East London, with neighbouring Newham having the highest total on 35,625 households. When considering other boroughs in the Outer East sub-region, Redbridge’s nearest comparison is Waltham Forest on 9,134 households. However, when compared to the overall average for all Outer London boroughs (6,978 households), Redbridge has a higher total.
We were unable to analyse Redbridge’s waiting times. Our Freedom of Information Request to Redbridge Council was given a response but an error in the data access process meant we were unable to retrieve the data provided.
Compared to other East London boroughs, Redbridge has a lower number of social homes from both council-managed and private registered provider stock. Official statistics show Redbridge has the lowest social housing stock in East London at 9,439 homes, making it the third lowest in London overall. Since 2010, this total has also changed substantially when the social housing stock in the borough totalled 9,318.
Redbridge Council operates a choice-based lettings system with a banding system made of four priority bands. Band 1 is for extremely pressing or time-limited housing applications, typically linked to emergency health or welfare needs, while Band 2 is for urgent but non life-threatening applications where applicants may reflect several reasonable preferences. Band 3 is the borough’s largest banding reflecting a medium priority to move, while Band 4 is for households with no reasonable preferences.
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.