The number of people waiting for a council house in Nottingham has rocketed over the last 12 months.
Nearly 8,000 people are waiting for council houses in Nottingham, far more than the number in other East Midlands cities.
In Derby, a total of 4,003 people are waiting for a council house, while in Leicester the figure is 5,809.
Waiting lists for council houses in the Midlands have increased rapidly over the past few years due to a number of factors.
Here is a look at each city in the East Midlands.
Nottingham:
There are 7,940 people on the housing register in Nottingham as of December 2018. A year earlier there was 6,583 people on the register.
Over the last two years the total number of people waiting has increased by around 70 percent. Many of these households include more than one person and around a third are families with children.
The waiting list grew despite the fact that during 2018 Nottingham City Homes made 1,515 new lettings - this is due to the council losing properties because of Right to Buy.
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The council also has responsibility for finding homes for families who would otherwise be homeless.
This demand has increased significantly over recent years, and the council is working to keep homeless families out of bed and breakfast accommodation.
Nick Murphy, the chief executive of Nottingham City Homes, said: "As homes become more difficult for many households to buy, or to rent in the private sector, the importance of social housing continues to grow.
"We currently manage 27,000 properties across the city on behalf of Nottingham City Council, but this is down from around 50,000 in the 1980s.
"It's no wonder our waiting list has grown and currently stands at about 8,000 local households, which is a 70 percent increase on what it was two years ago.
"We are affected by Right to Buy, which sees us here in Nottingham losing one council house a day, every day.
"Although we’re delivering the biggest council house building programme in a generation and have recently completed our 500th new build home, we simply cannot build council homes at the rate they're being sold.
“We are very keen to work with the council to build more social homes in Nottingham to help families on our waiting list.”
Derby:
At the end of December 2018 there were 4,003 applicants on the housing register in Derby.
Derby Council said there is no 'waiting list' solely for council housing in Derby.
They said they use an online, choice-based lettings system (Derby Homefinder) that advertises available social housing in Derby.
It advertises properties to rent from Derby City Council (managed by Derby Homes) and those from a range of housing associations in Derby.
The number of people on the register will fluctuate constantly as people leave/join. There are a lot of factors involved in allocating properties, but they do not necessarily include length of time someone has been on the register.
A spokeswoman for Derby Homes said: “At the end of December 2018 there were 4,003 applicants on the housing register, 75 percent (2,991) were active applicants. Active means that an applicant has made a bid on at least one property within the last 12 months of the snapshot.
“In the period of April to December 2018, 536 properties were advertised (645 adverts on properties) on Derby Homefinder (across all landlords), which received 35,881 bids in total.
“At the end of March 2019, Derby City Council owned 12,808 properties, which are managed by the arms-length management organisation (ALMO), Derby Homes.
“The ALMO is working in partnership with the council to increase the housing stock in Derby through new build and acquisition.
“Demand for housing is high (as it is nationally) and the time applicants are on the housing register will vary according to the turnover and levels of stock in particular areas, as well as the needs of a household and how open they are to considering the full range of housing options open to them."
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Leicester:
Leicester Council owns 20,667 council homes, of these, just under 900 became available in the year 2018 - 2019.
There are currently 5,809 households on the council’s Housing Register with 1,241 lettings in the last 12 months.
Over 5 percent are lettings of one-bedroom accommodation.
The average waiting times for the average household is as follows:
1 bedroom accommodation - five months
2 bedroom accommodation - 16 months
3 bedroom accommodation - 20 months
4 bedroom accommodation - 45 months
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