Allocations Policy 2026
The Housing Allocations team at Broxbourne Borough Council are currently experiencing an exceptionally high volume of enquiries and applications to join the Housing Register. As a result, response times may take longer than usual.
The Council’s new Allocations Policy has been agreed and the process to implement it has begun.
The Allocations Policy details how social housing in the Borough is allocated and who is eligible to join the Housing Register. If applicants meet the eligibility criteria, their circumstances are assessed and points are awarded based on housing need.
Current applicants and the Council’s partners will be kept up to date once the implementation has started and information will be shared once completed.
The new policy can be viewed here ahead of its implementation.
Below are some of the changes that will be introduced:
New changes to the Policy:
- Residency points are awarded when an applicant has lived in the Borough for the last five years continuously
- Care leaver points awarded to applicants approaching from outside of the Borough
- Victims of domestic abuse and care leavers are exempt from local connection criteria if they meet other criteria
- Reasonable preference applied to households with an accepted homelessness duty
- Applicants eligible for three-bedroom properties will be able to bid on larger and suitable two-bedroom homes.
Changes from the previous Policy:
- Medical point award changed from 20, 50, 100 or 200 to 50, 100, 150 or 200
- One-bed priority points no longer being awarded to couples and pregnant women, only awarded to adults with weekend access to children
- Single applicants aged over 35 are not eligible to bid for one-bed properties, they will only be eligible for studio homes
- Homeless points will no longer be awarded to households who have accommodation available to them that they cannot occupy temporarily due to disrepair
- Armed Forces veterans no longer require to have been discharged within five years to meet local connection criteria
- The proportion of available properties where working households have first refusal is increasing from 25% to 30%.
Being removed from the Policy:
- Waiting time points
- Shared facilities points
- Homeless points for households placed by the private rented scheme
- Applicants with zero points will no longer be able to remain on the Housing Register.