Persistent housing need that is serious or severe

Tenants can still qualify for social housing if they have a persistent housing need that is serious or severe.

This is based on an assessment of a household's ability to rent in the private market.

It covers the following criteria:

• affordability - whether a person can afford suitable alternative housing (with any financial assistance and resources available to them)
• accessibility - whether a person has access to alternative housing in the area they need to live, whether there is suitable housing available in the private market, and whether there are other reasons a person cannot access these available houses (e.g. because of discrimination or lack of financial means to move)
• sustainability - focuses on the likelihood of a person being able to sustain alternative housing, taking into account a person's financial management, social skills, and other circumstances

MSD does this assessment based on what it considers are the household's property needs.

For example, a tenant currently lives in a 3 bedroom social housing property. When MSD do a formal check to see if the property still meets their needs, they are assessed as only needing a 2 bedroom property.

The tenant may look for alternative 3 bedroom properties as this is what they think they need.

However, they must understand that they will be assessed against the criteria (e.g. for affordability) for 2 bedroom properties.

If a tenant can't afford, access or sustain alternative housing based on their assessed property needs, they are considered to have a persistent housing need that is serious and severe.

This means they will continue to qualify for social housing (if they also continue to meet the other eligibility criteria, e.g. residency requirements).