Admission to a housing list

A housing list is 'a list of applicants for housing which is kept by any housing provider or jointly by or on behalf of any two or more housing providers in connection with the allocation of housing held by it or them for housing purposes'. [1] This includes common housing registers where they are available.

A 'housing provider' is defined as 'any local authority or any registered social landlord'. [2]

Any applicant for housing who is at least 16 years of age is entitled to be admitted to the waiting list of a local authority or registered social landlord. [3]

There are no other factors in housing legislation that can be used to exclude an applicant from the waiting list. However, it's slightly more complicated for asylum seekers to access housing lists, for more information see the section on asylum seekers.