The demand for social housing is very high. Most people that join the housing register never get a social home even if they’re homeless, have significant medical needs or living in an overcrowded home. Most people are better off renting privately.
Joining the housing register does not mean that you eventually get a social home.
Estimated time to successfully bid for a property
Joining the housing register lets you bid for social housing. Social housing is housing rented from a Housing Association or from the council. It also includes Older Persons’ Housing for residents aged 55 or older.
The housing register is not a waiting list. Most people on the housing register are never offered a social home even if they’re on the housing register for a long time.
Most social homes in Hackney are flats that are not on the ground floor and do not have a garden.
When you join the Housing Register we place your application into a band. The time it takes to successfully bid for a property depends on the band. Only those placed in bands B and C can bid.
The current estimated times to successfully bid for a property:
Every adult must provide two proof of identity documents. One of these must confirm your immigration status. We accept:
Current and valid passport
Full birth certificate (we cannot accept the short birth certificate)
Home Office Immigration documents
Full or provisional photo driving licence for your current address (we cannot accept paper driving licences)
Marriage or civil partnership certificate
Court divorce papers or civil partnership dissolution final order
Residence Card
NHS Medical card for your current address
Department for Work and Pensions award letter
Naturalisation document
Two proof of address documents from the last three months:
Utility bills for things like gas, electricity and water (we cannot accept mobile phone bills)
A bank or building society statement
Department for Work and Pension award letter
A letter from an official body such as the Council Tax or Housing Benefit department, a school, solicitor, hospital, the armed forces or Social Services
For each dependant child we need:
Full birth certificate (we cannot accept the short birth certificate) or custody papers, adoption papers or court residence papers
Child Benefit award letter for your current address
A letter or document from the child’s school with their full name and address on it
For European Economic Area nationals only:
National Identity card
Settled or pre-settled status letter
Proof of income for each adult:
Where an adult is in paid employment we require their payslips. Where they are paid weekly we require their last five payslips, where they are paid monthly we require their last two payslips or where they are paid fortnightly we require their last three payslips.
Where an adult is in receipt of Benefits such as Universal Credit, Job Seekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance we require their benefit award letter.
Where an adult receives Child Tax Credit or Working Tax require we require their Tax Credit award letter
Where an adult is self-employed we require their profit and loss trading accounts for the last financial year and a letter from His Majesty’s Revenues & Customs (HMRC) showing tax and National Insurance contributions (whether or not any contributions are owed or paid).
Proof of savings and capital for each adult including:
The last two months of bank, building society and post office statements for all accounts held
Certificates for any premium bonds, National Savings Certificates, stocks and shares, ISAs or unit trusts.
Evidence of the rent that you pay currently, such as:
Tenancy agreement
Rent statement
Letter from your landlord or agent
A signed letter from the person that you live with if someone else pays the rent where you live
Proof of National Insurance number for each adult, such as:
National insurance card or letter
Department for Work and Pension award letter
A letter from the Pension Service
P45
P60
Payslip
If considering the medical condition of someone in the household we ask for supporting evidence, such as:
A printout of their medical record
Occupational therapy reports
Consultants reports
Autistic spectrum diagnostic report
Sensory impairment team report
Wheelchair assessment team report
Adult Social Care team report
Evidence of a care package
Apply to join the housing register
Access to the housing register is limited and not everyone can join.
To join the housing register you must meet strict criteria that includes having:
recourse to public funds and being aged 18 or over
You cannot join if you:
have made your housing situation worse in order to apply such as by moving into accommodation that is too small for your household or damaging your current property
have been found intentionally homeless in the last three years
have sublet your accommodation without permission
have savings or assets or £80,000 or more
own your own home
have a household income over £80,000 a year (£100,000 if you need a property with three or more bedrooms)
Apply to join the housing register by calling 0208 356 2929.
When you call we:
ask for your details including your name, address, phone number and email address
email you an online application form
You need to complete the application form we email you and return it to us.
Applying because you’re homeless
If you’re homeless or threatened with homelessness contact Hackney’s Benefits and Homeless Prevention service as soon as possible.
It’s estimated that 15% of households renting privately in London are overcrowded and 17% of social housing households.
Severely overcrowded households can join the housing register. The estimated time taken to secure a two bedroom social home in Hackney for those that are living in severely overcrowded properties is 12 years.
We recommend all overcrowded households that need a bigger home consider renting privately. See Get a privately rented home
Assessing your application
What happens after you apply to join
We review your application and check if you can join the housing register.
It may take several weeks for us to review your application.
You’re required to provide evidence to join the housing register. See evidence you need to apply. We will let you know the exact evidence that you need to provide once we have reviewed your application.
If you can join the housing register then you’re given a bidding number.
You need to bid each week for properties that become available. See bid for social housing. If you do not bid regularly and keep us updated about changes to your household then your application may be cancelled.
We will write to you once your application has been assessed.
If you disagree with our decision then you can ask us to review our decision. Review requests must be submitted in writing within one month of the date of our decision letter.
Determining the size of properties you can bid for
It’s based on the size of your household and other factors such as medical needs.
When you join the housing register, we allocate your application to a band on the register. There are three bands named A,B and C. Most people who qualify to join the register including people who are homeless, living in a over-crowded home or who have significant medical needs are placed into band B.
When calculating the size of property that you can bid for we allocate:
one room for each couple who are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting
one room for each single person over 21
one room for every two persons under 21 of the same sex
one room for every two children under 10 of opposite sexes
one room for every single person of any age, including an adult child, of either sex in your household when there is no-one else in the household suitable to share with
Impact of medical issues
If you tell us that someone is your household has a medical condition we will consider whether:
your housing circumstance is causing the medical condition or making it worse
a change of housing would significantly improve the medical condition
This means even a severe medical condition may have no impact on an application.
You will not be accepted onto the housing register for medical reasons if your current home can be adapted at a reasonable cost to meet the medical need.
Damp and mould are not considered medical issues. They are the responsibility of the landlord.
Those that are accepted onto the housing register due to medical issues are likely to be placed into band B or band C.
The estimated time to bid successfully for a two bedroom property is 12 years in band B and 19 years in band C
We may decide that you need a certain type of property due to a medical need. This may extend the time it takes to bid successfully.
Band A
Band A is our highest priority band. We expect only a very small number of people to be allocated to this band each year. People and households in band A do not bid for property in the usual way – instead they’re made a direct offer of property.
You qualify for band A if any of the following applies:
You are in hospital and cannot be discharged because you have nowhere to go and there is no suitable temporary accommodation
You are a police witness and your life is at risk as a consequence of providing assistance to the police or a law enforcement body
You are a current Council tenant and your current property has become uninhabitable because of fire, flood or a roof collapse
Where a Local Authority Ombudsman has ordered that emergency rehousing is appropriate
You have applied to the Administrative Court and a judicial review has decided that your housing need is such that it constitutes an emergency
You are a connected carer for children that our unable to live with their parents and as a result of this need more rooms
Band B
Band B is the band that most people who qualify to join the register are allocated to. If you’re allocated to Band B you can bid for properties. If you’re living in temporary accommodation you might also be made direct offers for property.
You qualify for band B if any of the following applies:
you are currently living in significantly over-crowded accommodation lacking two or more bedrooms for a household of your size
you are an existing social tenant who has a significant social need such as where there is a threat to your life or the life of someone in your household and there is no alternative but to move you
you or some in your household have a significant medical need which is being made significantly worse by your accommodation and it is not reasonable to adapt or improve the accommodation (issues such as damp, mould, dust and broken lifts can be fixed or improved). In addition an alternative property would need to significantly improve the medical condition
you have been accepted by the council as being statutorily homeless and are owed a full housing duty under section 193(2) of the Housing Act 1996. This does not include those that are owed a Prevention duty or Relief duty.
your current accommodation is unsanitary such as not having an inside toilet, running water or functioning electrical supply and an inspection and report has determined that there is not a good prospect the property will be made habitable in a reasonable timespan
you are an existing social tenant and have applied to the Council’s under-occupation scheme because you want to move to a smaller accommodation
you are a young person who is leaving Hackney Council care provision and are a care leaver aged between 18 and 25
Band C
Band C is mainly for households that need a specific type of accommodation such as Older Persons’ Housing. If you’re in band C then you can usually bid for a limited number of properties which are appropriate to your specific needs.
You qualify for band C if any of the following applies:
You are over 55 and want to move into older person’s housing
You are already a tenant of a Register Housing Provider and you are applying under the Government’s Right to Move scheme to move to Hackney for work-related reasons
You are a foster carer who requires a larger accommodation to accommodate your foster children
You or someone in your household has a medical condition that would be alleviated by a move to alternative accommodation. The need is urgent but your current accommodation is not a threat to significantly exacerbating the condition. A change of housing would need to make a substantial improvement in the quality of life of the affected person.
You are homeless but aren’t owed a full housing duty under section 193(2) of the Housing Act 1996. This includes households who are owed a Prevention Duty or a Relief Duty.
Our allocations policy
You can find more details on how we assess applications in the following documents:
If you’re on our housing register then you must ensure your application is kept up to date by notifying us of certain changes.
This is important as some changes impact the size or type of property that you can bid for or the band you’re assigned.
If your application isn’t kept up to date then you may be removed from the housing register and any bids that you make for a property might be overlooked.
Tell us about any changes by calling 0208 356 2929. If we require more information then we will email you to let you know.
Tell us if any of these things change
Your contact details such as phone numbers and email addresses
Your current accommodation
Someone in your household:
Joins or leaves your household
Has a new child
Passes away
Changes their name
Changes their gender
Has a divorce, civil partnership dissolution or relationship breakdown
Has a significant change in their medical circumstances
Your immigration status changes
Your household income increases above £80,000 per year (£100,000 per year if you are bidding for a three bed property or larger)
Your household savings or assets increase about £80,000.
You buy, inherit or obtain a legal interest in a property in the UK or abroad