More than 3,500 will be struck off council house waiting list in rule change

NEW POLICY DISQUALIFIES CURRENT HOME OWNERS, PEOPLE EARNING OVER £25,000, OR WITH MORE THAN £6K SAVINGS

- By JOSEPH CONNOLLY

MANSFIELD and Ashfield district councils will tighten their rules on who can get a council house after agreeing to change their policy.

From April 1, anyone who earns more than £25,000 per year, has savings of more than £6,000 or owns a home will be struck off the waiting list and will no longer be eligible for a council property.

In addition, the lowest-priority band of the waiting list, band five, which contains applicants who want a council house but are said to have “no real need”, will be scrapped, along with other changes to the banding system.

It means that more than 3,500 people will be dumped from the queue in less than six weeks' time.

Mansfield council states that there are 3,204 applicants on the band five waiting list in the Mansfield area, with approximately another 300 applicants earning more than the new annual threshold across both districts.

In Ashfield, however, those already on the waiting list in band five - around 2,200 people - will be allowed to remain on it.

Documents say that social housing across Mansfield and Ashfield is in “exceptionally high demand”.