Worthing plans to drop 858 no-need households from a 2,462-strong housing list, when only 131 homes were let last year. Have your say by 20 October.
Worthing Borough Council wants to take people with no housing need off its waiting list for social homes. On the council’s own figures, that could mean up to 858 of the 2,462 households on the list.
The proposal is the biggest of five changes to the rules on who gets a council or housing association home. A public consultation opened on 22 September and closes on 20 October 2026.
The council’s case is simple. It says people with no housing need “would realistically never secure a council home anyway because demand exceeds supply”. The figures it published with the consultation show how far demand outruns supply.
The numbers behind the list
The council’s details of the proposed changes break down the register as it stood in August 2026. Households are placed in bands, from A for the most urgent need down to D.
Band D is the no-need band. The councils run one set of rules for both areas, and the Adur version of the announcement spells it out: its Band D households are there “because they have no actual housing need”. In Worthing, that band holds 858 households, about 35% of the list.
Now compare the list with what is actually let. In 2025/26, Worthing let 131 homes through the register, up from 122 the year before. That is about one home for every 19 households waiting.
The gap is widest for families needing bigger homes.
| Size | Households waiting | Homes let in 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| One bedroom (studios let separately) | 1,328 | 60, plus 4 studios |
| Two bedrooms | 628 | 49 |
| Three bedrooms | 430 | 17 |
| Four bedrooms | 76 | 1 |
At last year’s rate, it would take about 25 years to let a three-bedroom home to each of the 430 households now waiting for one. That assumes nobody else joins the list, which is not what is happening.
What the council wants to change
The consultation document lists five changes:
- Homeless at home (Band B). People who are homeless but can make their own temporary arrangements for now would get Band B priority. The aim is to keep families near schools, work and support, instead of in temporary housing that can be far away.
- Renting privately (Band C). People moving out of temporary housing into a private rental would be placed in Band C, to encourage moves into good private homes.
- Moving on for single people (direct let). Single people in supported housing who are ready to live on their own could be offered a home directly. The council says some currently have to present as homeless, and some sleep rough.
- No housing need: removal and annual review. Households with no housing need would come off the register, and everyone left on it would be reviewed each year.
- Sharing between areas. Worthing households could move into empty council homes in Adur, and Adur households into Worthing ones, if the other council does not need them.
The Worthing announcement names the Adur places Worthing families could be offered: Sompting, Lancing, Shoreham, Southwick and Fishersgate. Shoreham is about six miles east of Worthing town centre.
Why the council says it has to act
The pressure is on temporary housing. In the council’s words, between April and June 189 more households needed its help to find somewhere to live, “an average of almost two extra households every day”.
- At the end of July, 487 Worthing households were in short-term accommodation paid for by the council.
- More than 100 households have moved from short-term accommodation into permanent homes this year.
- The council raised its housing budget by £1.8 million this year.
- It already forecasts spending a further £1.5 million beyond that budget to house residents with nowhere to live.
Councillor Sophie Cox, Worthing’s cabinet member for housing, said: “We’re now building on that work by ensuring we’re focusing our attention on helping those Worthing residents who are most in need.”
Earlier this month the council let a contract to refit the Town Hall housing reception, which is where anyone facing homelessness within seven days is told to go.
What it means for you
- If you are on the list with no housing need, you could be removed if the plan goes ahead. The council says the aim is to stop giving people “false hope” of a home that is not available.
- If you are homeless and staying with family or friends, the new Band B would recognise that for the first time.
- If you are in temporary accommodation and find a private rental, you would keep Band C priority on the list.
- If you are on the Worthing list, you could be offered a home in Adur under the sharing change.
- Nothing changes yet. The council leaders decide after the consultation closes.
How to have your say
The consultation runs until 20 October 2026. Read the two-page details of proposed changes first, then fill in the consultation form. Questions go to housing-accommodation@adur-worthing.gov.uk, with “Allocations Policy” in the subject line.
The council says there will also be drop-in events in Worthing. As of 29 September it had not published their dates or venues on the consultation page. We will add them when it does.
Adur is consulting on the same changes at the same time. Of its 1,042 households on the register, 346 are in Band D.
Sources
- Resources would be focused on those most in need under plans to reshape Worthing council housing policy, Adur & Worthing Councils, PR26-084, 22 September 2026
- Housing Allocation Policy Review 2026, Adur & Worthing Councils consultation page, last updated 22 September 2026
- Housing Allocation Policy Review: details of proposed changes, Adur & Worthing Councils, data as of August 2026
- New housing plans developed to focus resources on helping Adur residents most in need of support, Adur & Worthing Councils, PR26-085, 22 September 2026
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