The number of households on Herefordshire’s housing waiting list has more than doubled in three years, with non-British households making up a significant share.
Herefordshire Council said in response to a freedom of information request that as of November 29, there were 1,896 households on its housing register.
Of these, 262 or just under one in seven identified as non-UK nationals, with 90 Polish households comprising the largest nationality.
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The 2021 census found Polish was the most common main language other than English spoken in the county, with around 3,000 people.
A further 29 households were from outside the European Economic Area – that is, the 27 EU states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Figures submitted by the council to the government earlier in the year gave a total figure for Herefordshire of 1,520, more than double the figure it gave for 2020.
But 2020 appears to have been a historic low for the county. Between 1987 and 2014, the housing waiting list figure never dropped below 2,000 households, the official figures show.
Herefordshire Council has no housing stock of its own. The Home Point service manages the county’s register of people in need of affordable rented homes under an agreement between the council and the county’s main housing associations.
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