Council housing

We are committed to building more genuinely affordable homes for local people. Our Local Lettings Policy means council tenants have first priority for the new homes we build on their estate.

Although we are building the most new council homes in Islington for 30 years, it is very unlikely that you will be offered a council home as there is far more demand than supply.

This is because there are over 15,000 households on our housing register waiting to access social housing. Only a small proportion of our properties become vacant for letting every year. Last year we let only 1,119 properties, housing around 7% of those 15,000 households. Less than half of these properties had more than one bedroom. Regrettably, even people in the greatest need often face a delay of several years before they get housed.

Residents on the housing register have told us that if they knew how unlikely it was that they would be housed, they would have considered other options earlier like moving into private rented accommodation in cheaper areas, downsizing or swapping homes.