Wigan council housing waiting list (Guide)

In this brief guide, we are going to talk about the wigan council housing waiting list, how the list works and what to expect.

Wigan council housing waiting list

When you apply for a home with the Wigan council you will be allocated a priority group. This lets you know how urgent your housing need is and how quickly you will move up the wigan council housing waiting list.

The priority group you are allocated to will be based on your personal circumstances. There are 3 priority groups:

Group A –  Urgent housing need

Group B – Housing need (Points awarded)

Group C – Standard housing need

It goes without saying that if you are in Group A with an Urgent housing need then you will likely be allocated a property the quickest and this means you will also likely be placed high on the Wigan council housing waiting list.

Once you have made an application you will be informed on what priority group you have been allocated and that you have been placed on the housing register. The letter or email you will receive will explain the priority groups and point schemes in much more detail.

Your letter will also contain your unique reference number which you will need to place bids when you search for homes on the Wigan council housing portal.

The houses are then allocated based on the allocations policy which looks into what priority group an applicant is and the amounts of points they have, if relevant.

The amount of time you have been on the wigan council housing waiting list will also be taken into account. Over 10% of the properties let are time-based lets.

There are also properties which will be let to people who are about to be homeless, people who are homeless and people who are suffering hardship. These properties will usually not be advertised.

Some of the homes which are advertised may be subject to local lettings policy which may prioritise another group of people rather than those that would normally be prioritised on the Wigan council housing waiting list. 

The local lettings policy may have other demands which you may not meet and hence you won’t be able to rent those properties.

How to gauge where you are on the Wigan council housing waiting list?

To gauge where there is less demand and how you can potentially climb up the Wigan council housing waiting list you should look at the homes which have a lot of properties by searching through the online portal and looking at the various estates.

To also gauge where you may be on the wigan council housing waiting list you should see who was recently allocated a house and how many pints they had. You can then compare this to yourself and this will give you some idea of how far off you are from the top.

In a scenario where there are many people with similar points, this method of comparison will, of course, be much more distorted.

You will also see why the property was left to the person.

The below provides a guide on the different rental basis.

“Needs-based

The property was let according to the applicant’s group/points on the list

Time-based

The property was let to the applicant on the waiting list the longest (shown by the registration date). Priority is given to Wigan Council tenants but if there is no demand from Wigan Council tenants, then the property is let to a non-council tenant

Priority let

The property was let directly to an applicant in urgent housing need

Downsizer

The property was let to a council tenant who needed smaller accommodation and was let according to the applicant’s group/points on the list.

Local Lettings Policy

The property is part of the local lettings policy. The rents for these properties are set higher than neighbouring, similar properties but are typically 20% cheaper than private sector rents.”

In this brief guide, we discussed the Wigan council housing waiting list. If you have any questions or comments please let us know.

If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.

You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.