00:00Across four West Midlands authorities, housing registers show a squeeze between demand and the homes being available.
00:08The figures describe different things and come from different reporting periods, so they're not a league table.
00:14Birmingham City Council says 36,500 applicants are on its housing register.
00:19It's announced a new allocation scheme due to take effect in November 2027 and has scheduled an eight-week public
00:27consultation from the 30th of October.
00:30Samwell's register increased from 6,000 households in 2020 to more than 24,000 in 2025 to 26.
00:39The number of homes available to let fell from 1,977 to 1,268.
00:46That's according to the council.
00:48Samwell is reviewing its allocation policy too.
00:51Proposals include mean testing eligibility and increasing the local connection requirement from two years to five.
01:00In Dudley, 3,852 households were on the register at the end of March 2025, an 11.7% rise
01:09in a year.
01:10The council says it receives far more applications than homes available.
01:15Wolverhampton's 2026-27 housing plan reports more than 8,000 people waiting against roughly 1,000 properties.
01:24All four councils say demand currently outstrips available housing.
01:30The number one rang in there, though, by a week.
