Social Housing Data 2021
CPAG uses the Social Housing Register as a key indicator of housing need. According to the Housing Register, the number of households with a ‘severe’ and/or ‘significant’, persistent housing need has increased roughly 2.5-fold between March 2019 and March 2021, from 8,937 households to 21,552 households.
Housing Register numbers do not map perfectly onto housing need. The Welfare Expert Advisory Group reported that an increase in applicants in 2017 may have reflected the fact that the newly elected Government encouraged people to contact MSD about their housing needs, and raised the profile of the public housing system. However, this data gives an indication of the urgent need for quality, affordable housing among families, a need that continues to increase exponentially.
N.B. Priority A applicants are considered to be ‘at risk’ and include households that have a severe and persistent housing need that must be addressed immediately. Priority B applicants are those with a ‘serious housing need’ and include households with a significant and persistent need.
Source: MSD Housing Register