500 Sandwell council homes sold despite 6,000 people on waiting list

Sandwell Council says it is seeking to build 3,000 new homes by next year to ease waiting lists and to plan for a baby boom expected in the next decade.

The authority says 3,035 council tenants have requested to transfer to new homes - many of which council leaders claim have been hit by the bedroom tax.

A Freedom of Information request revealed 467 households have requested to downsize their properties.

But it also emerged 164 families requested a transfer due to 'overcrowding' in their present homes.

Sandwell Council's deputy leader, Councillor Steve Eling, said the policy was creating a 'scandal' over council housing.

"In a lot of cases it's people waiting for a period to see if the type of house they want comes up," he said.

"This isn't 6,000 people living on the streets.

"Council houses are the most desirable housing for people on a low income.

"The bedroom tax has been an issue for this.

"This is the stupidity of this policy.

"Because of this waiting lists will grow because the number of people trying to get council houses will get longer.

"Nationally for everyone one council house built, 10 are lost."

The council said 491 homes were sold through the Right to Buy policy in the last two years.

And the 476 households have lodged Right to Buy applications at the moment in the borough.

Opposition UKIP councillor Philip Garrett said he had requested meetings with the council over the issue.

He said around 250 families living in his ward around Princes End, Tipton, were on the waiting list and he is demanding the authority does more.

"Unless we are going to build more homes for council tenants that we are just going to go around in circles," he said.

Finance bosses at the council – which is facing up to crippling Government cuts – have pledged to invest around £10 million into council housing this year.

The council has also committed to buying properties on new developments from house builders to allow it to expand its housing stock.

Earlier this year it emerged that 36 households had been on the waiting list for around a decade.