Plan to rehome tenants quicker after emergencies

Social housing tenants who have to leave their properties due to a "significant mass emergency event" will move up one housing band level in proposals by a city authority.

Bristol City Council is holding a consultation on changes to how it allocates social housing.

There are approximately 22,000 households currently bidding for homes, and each applicant is put into one of four bands based on need.

Another proposal would see anyone with "significant health or welfare needs" and "whose health is significantly affected by their current housing" automatically moved to band two, the council's second highest level of need.

Applicants must bid for housing through the council's social letting service, HomeChoice, where available council or housing association properties are made available.

According to the most recent council figures, the majority of applicants sit within band three but the majority of allocations are given to bands one and two.

Approximately 3% of applicants are categorised as band one - the group of highest priority.

The council has said the new proposals have come after speaking to residents of Barton House who were suddenly evacuated in November, 2023, over fears relating to faults with its construction in 1958.

Residents were eventually told to return home - but many have since said they now feel unsafe living in the tower and have been trying to be rehomed through the council.

"It's good news but I was hoping for better news because we have campaigned so hard for the council to listen to us," said ACORN representative and resident of Barton House, Fadumo Farah.

"It's better than nothing and it's good that we're influencing policy decisions that all Bristolians will benefit from," she added.

"In Barton House we have a lot of residents that are in band four and they will go to band three - which takes over seven years to be rehoused so there is no win there for those residents."

Mrs Farah believes that more should be done by the council to prepare for the eventuality of another emergency evacuation similar to the one that happened at Barton House and that more should be done to support the residents still affected by it nearly two years later:

"They need to make more change. People that were evacuated due to structural issues or fires should go straight to band one, especially families with children," she said.

A report published in February found that the evacuation of Barton House was a mass-traumatising event for those living there and that the treatment of residents constituted "an exceptional case of failure and neglect which must be addressed to avoid further harm and suffering," and that it had "profoundly negative effects on adults and children".

If the council's proposals go ahead and someone from Barton House moves out as a result, their original property would become available for others to move in to.

Earlier this year, all residents of Bouverie Court in Easton were put into band one after they were told their homes would need to be demolished because of serious construction faults.