The results of the statutory assessment of local authority housing need, which was undertaken in March 2002, indicated that a total of 48,413 households were in need of social housing, of which 2,468 were considered homeless and in need of local authority housing. Information on gender and the length of time these households were on the local authority waiting list was not collected.
Information from the last assessment of need indicates that approximately 60% of households assessed as in need of local authority housing were on the local authority waiting list for less than two years. It is, however, the case that some applicants for local authority housing are on waiting lists for longer periods on the basis that their housing need has a relatively lower priority compared with the needs of households who have been allocated housing. The relative priority of households on the local authority waiting lists is determined in accordance with the authorities' scheme of letting priorities, the making of which is a function reserved to the elected members.