2,870 Sutton households were on the housing register in March 2025; the council let 211 homes that year. Homeless families waited seven years for a three-bed.
2,870 households were on Sutton’s housing register at the end of March 2025. That is more than double the 1,319 recorded ten years earlier. Over the same year, the council let 211 of its own homes.
The figures come from the government’s latest Local Authority Housing Statistics, published on 25 June 2026 (MHCLG, LAHS 2024-25). The council’s own website shows how long people actually waited (Sutton Council: applying for social housing).
Who is waiting
Of the 2,870 households on the register:
- 1,809 include children, almost two in three
- 921 need a one-bedroom home
- 975 need two bedrooms
- 866 need three bedrooms
- 108 need four bedrooms or more
The council has to give “reasonable preference” to certain groups. 2,297 households on the list qualified for it. A household can qualify on more than one ground, so these overlap:
- 1,615 live in overcrowded or otherwise unsatisfactory housing
- 1,139 need to move on medical or welfare grounds, including disability
- 711 are owed a duty by a council under homelessness law
- 88 qualified through homelessness
How few homes come up
In 2024-25 the council let 211 of the 6,035 homes it owns. Not all of those went to people on the waiting list:
- 104 went to new social tenants
- 72 went to existing social tenants moving home
- 35 were mutual exchanges, where two tenants swap
Housing associations let another 110 homes to people the council nominated. A further six came from other social landlords.
So in 2024-25, about 220 homes went to new council tenants or to households the council nominated. Set that against 2,870 waiting. At the end of March 2025, only three council homes stood empty and ready to let; another 36 were empty but temporarily unavailable.
The register grew every year from 2016 to 2023, dipped in 2024 and rose again in 2025 to its highest level since 2012 (MHCLG Live Table 600). The department adjusted Sutton’s 2024 return slightly, from 2,434 to 2,443.
The register is not a perfect count of need. The government’s own note says registers can overstate demand, because councils review them at different intervals and some households sit on more than one. Sutton’s count also leaves out council tenants waiting for a transfer.
How long people waited
The council publishes the average wait for households it housed in 2024-25 and 2025-26. The bands are set by the council’s allocations policy: Band A is urgent need, Band B is households accepted as homeless, Band C is overcrowded or unsuitable housing and Band D is insecure housing, such as a tenant served notice by a landlord.
| Home | Band A | Band B (homeless) | Band C | Band D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-bed sheltered | 5 years 4 months | 2 years 5 months | 2 years 8 months | 3 years 6 months |
| 1-bed general | 3 years 2 months | 3 years 7 months | 1 year 9 months | 1 year |
| 2-bed | 3 years 2 months | 5 years 6 months | 3 years 5 months | 2 years 1 month |
| 3-bed | 2 years 4 months | 7 years | 6 years | not listed |
| 4-bed | 8 years 9 months | 5 years 8 months | 4 years 11 months | not listed |
The longest average wait on the list is for a four-bedroom home in Band A: 8 years and 9 months. Homeless families housed in a three-bedroom home waited seven years on average.
Every borough sets its own rules on who can join, so register sizes do not compare neatly. For context, the same table records 8,559 households on Croydon’s register, 11,011 on Merton’s and 1,835 on Kingston’s.
What it means for you
- You can only join if you qualify. The council says you must have a housing need, be 16 or over and have lived in the borough for two continuous years before applying, with exceptions for work or hardship.
- Money counts. If the council decides you can afford to rent privately, you will not be accepted. The threshold depends on your household, the size of home you need and essential costs such as bills and childcare.
- Rent arrears or antisocial behaviour bar you until you have shown 12 months of change.
- Your priority date matters. Once accepted, you bid for homes on the Homechoice website. Shortlists are sorted by band, then by how long you have waited. If your circumstances get worse, tell the council: your band, and your date, can change.
- Apply online through Homechoice, linked from the council’s housing register page, or email housing-register@sutton.gov.uk.
The council also needs temporary homes. Its plan to house six single-parent families at 10 Hillcroome Road is open for comments until 14 October.
Sources
- MHCLG: Local Authority Housing Statistics data returns for 2024 to 2025 (register by bedroom size, households with children, reasonable preference, lettings, vacancies, council stock)
- MHCLG: Live Table 600, households on housing registers by district (2015 to 2025 series, Croydon, Merton and Kingston, notes on what the register counts)
- Sutton Council: applying for social housing (housing register) (eligibility, bands, average waiting times for 2024-25 and 2025-26)
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