HomeChoice: changes to how we prioritise social housing consultation 2025

Overview

How does the current lettings system work?

The service for letting social housing in Bristol is called HomeChoice Bristol. Social housing provides affordable homes for people who are on lower incomes, in vulnerable situations or who have specialist housing needs.

HomeChoice Bristol is a partnership between Bristol City Council and housing associations in the city. Households must use the HomeChoice service to register and apply for social housing in Bristol.

HomeChoice has four bands to prioritise housing need where Band 1 is for people in highest need, while those in the Band 4 are deemed to have no immediate housing need.

All properties that are available are advertised through HomeChoice Bristol and applicants can bid on properties that meet their needs. The property will usually be let to the applicant in the highest band who has been waiting longest in that band.

You can read more information about the reasons for HomeChoice bands.

Background to the proposals

We are proposing two changes to the way council and social housing is allocated across Bristol through HomeChoice Bristol.

There are currently over 22,000 households on the HomeChoice housing waiting list.

We want to make the housing letting process fair, easy to use and transparent for all who use it, providing housing to those that are in most need. We need to make the best use of our limited housing as we cannot currently meet the needs of everyone on the register.

In this consultation, the terms ‘serious’, ‘significant’, ‘difficulty’, ‘mass emergency event’ and ‘prolonged’ are determined by Bristol City Council based on the evidence provided. 

Proposal 1: Band uplift for social housing tenants who have had to leave their home for a prolonged period (in excess of several weeks) due to a significant mass emergency event that is recognised by a relevant authority.

We propose to give additional priority to social housing tenants who have been evacuated due to a significant mass emergency event that causes multiple households to leave their home for a prolonged period of time (in excess of several weeks) to live in alternative or emergency accommodation. These tenants would have their band assessment changed to higher priority by one band.

We’re proposing this change after listening to, and working with, residents who have been affected by the evacuation of Barton House in November 2023 due to safety concerns in the building, as well as their advocates and support groups. We know that this experience caused distress to some residents.

This change would apply to all tenants living in social housing, not just those in Barton House, and would support residents should any recognised mass emergency event take place in future.

Proposal 2 – To award a Band 2 priority for significant health and welfare needs.

The HomeChoice allocation service currently provides priority housing for people with certain levels of health and welfare needs.

However, there is currently a gap between those with the highest level of housing-related health and welfare needs (who are placed in Band 1) and those with minor needs (who are placed in Band 3).

We are proposing to award a Band 2 priority for households whose health is significantly affected by their current housing. This would be awarded to applicants who do not meet Band 1 criteria, but still meet a set of eligibility criteria for significant health and welfare needs. These criteria are outlined in the consultation.

The proposal would fill the gap between Band 1 and Band 3 allocations and support people whose health is significantly affected by their housing.

Have your say

We are now asking for your views on these two proposals. The consultation will be open from Friday 30 May to midnight on Friday 11 July.

Please submit your response by midnight Friday 11 July 2025

Alternative formats

If you need this consultation survey as a paper version, Braille, large print, British Sign Language, or other alternative format, you can request this by emailing lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk or by calling 0117 922 2400 option 4.

This consultation is available to complete in the following languages:

Arabic - عربي يرجى النقر هنا لإكمال هذه الاستشارة باللغة

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HomeChoice2025/

Kurdish (Sorani): تکایە لێرە کرتە بکە بۆ تەواوکردنی ئەم ڕاوێژکارییە بە کوردی (سۆرانی)

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HomeChoice2025/

Polish: Proszę kliknąć tutaj, aby wypełnić te konsultacje w języku Polskim.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HomeChoice2025/

Somali: Fadlan halkan guji si aad u dhammeystirto latashigan ugu dhammaystirto af Soomaali

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HomeChoice2025/

If you need this consultation survey in another language, please contact lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

আপনি যদি অন্য ভাষায় এই পরামর্শ জরিপের প্রয়োজন হয়, তাহলে দয়া করে lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk এ যোগাযোগ করুন

Si vous avez besoin de cette enquête de consultation dans une autre langue, veuillez contacter lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

如果你需要其他语言的咨询调查，请联系 lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

Caso necessite deste inquérito de consulta noutro idioma, por favor contacte lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

ਜੇ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਕਿਸੇ ਹੋਰ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਵਿਚ ਇਸ ਸਲਾਹ-ਮਸ਼ਵਰੇ ਦੇ ਸਰਵੇਖਣ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਰੂਰਤ ਹੈ, ਤਾਂ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰਕੇ ਸੰਪਰਕ ਕਰੋ lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

Dacă aveți nevoie de acest sondaj de consultare într-o altă limbă, vă rugăm să contactați lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

Si necesita esta encuesta de consulta en otro idioma, póngase en contacto con lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk

اگر آپ کو کسی دوسری زبان میں اس مشاورت کے سروے کی ضرورت ہے، تو براہ کرم lettings.review@bristol.gov.uk سے رابطہ کریں