Understanding housing priority and banding
Housing priority and banding are used to decide who is offered social housing first through Trafford Home Choice. Because there are far more people looking for social housing than homes available, the council must use clear rules to assess housing need fairly and consistently.
Your housing band reflects how urgent your housing need is, not how long you have been waiting or how deserving your situation may feel. Banding decisions are made using Trafford Council’s Housing Allocations Policy, which sets out the legal framework, eligibility rules, and priority criteria that must be followed for all applications.
This guide explains what housing bands mean, how priority is assessed, and what can affect your banding. If you want to read the full policy that these decisions are based on, you can view the Housing Allocations Policy
Trafford Home Choice uses four housing bands to show how urgent an applicant’s housing need is. Band 1 is the highest priority and Band 4 is the lowest. Bands are awarded based on the criteria set out in the Housing Allocations Policy, and applicants must meet the relevant criteria to be placed in a particular band. Banding is not based on how long someone has waited, but on their housing circumstances and level of need. An applicant’s band can change if their circumstances change.
Banding decisions are made using Trafford Council’s Housing Allocations Policy. Each application is assessed using the information and evidence provided, alongside any homelessness duties, medical or welfare needs, safety concerns, or exceptional circumstances. Officers must apply the policy rules consistently. This means decisions are based on set criteria, not discretion or personal judgement. Similar cases should receive similar outcomes.
If your circumstances change or new evidence is provided, your band may increase, reduce, or stay the same following reassessment.
A higher band gives greater priority when homes are advertised, but it does not guarantee that you will be offered a home. Waiting times can still be long, even for applicants with high priority, due to the limited number of available homes. Being placed in a lower band does not mean your situation is unimportant. It means that, under the policy, other applicants currently have a more urgent housing need.