'Unprecedented demand' for council housing with hundreds of bids on some homes

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

For the latest news from in and around Wigan sign up to the MyWigan newsletter hereWigan council is facing 'unprecedented demand' for social housing with hundreds of bids for homes and the waiting list growing 69 per cent in two years.The local authority has received 2,450 homeless application since April 2020 with 424 people in 'urgent need' of accommodation still waiting to be housed.As of last week, there were 9,654 households on Wigan council's waiting list.More than 5,000 of those are waiting for a one-bedroom council property.There is an average of 100 bids for each council property when it becomes available, but in some cases there have been more than 400 bids for a home.One council home which became available last year received 502.