HOUSING everybody in Somerset in need of a one-bedroom home would take eight years, councillors have been told.

More than 12,500 families are currently on the county’s Homefinder housing register, which allows people to bid on new council or housing association properties as they become available.

One and two-bedroom homes are the most in-demand properties, with an average of 13 people applying for every one-bedroom accommodation which becomes available.

Now, councillors have called for more work to be done to ensure the service helps those in the most urgent need and to ensure proper support for rough sleepers.

Somerset Council temporary accommodation head Sam Wenden de Lira said there had been a sharp rise from 8,217 on the register in 2017 to 12,590 in 2025.

Mr de Lira said 6,855 applications were made for one-bedroom properties between August and October last year, of which 523 succeeded.

Two-bedroom homes were in similar demand with 3,462 applications being made and 548 successful, equivalent to more than six people chasing each property.

There were 1,918 applications for three-bedroom homes, with 232 successful, 570 for four-bedroom houses where only 27 succeeded..

Mr de Lira said based on existing demand and construction rates, it would take the council eight years to house everybody who wanted a one-bedroom home, five years for two bedrooms, seven years for three bedrooms, and up to 10 years for a four-bedroom house.

Answering questions on why some homeless people seemed to be on the streets for a long time, Mr de Lira said there could be a ‘multitude of reasons’ why they had not been housed through the register.

He said: “When it comes to being housed through the register, the offers are made by the landlords and not by ourselves.

“The landlords will have their own policies, where they will be looking at who has come up on a shortlist and they will make a decision as to whether they will be offering someone a property.

“We do not get involved in that.

“When it comes to people who are rough sleeping, we have a separate rough sleeping team who work really hard to engage with these people.

“They could be living on the streets for a very long time, and, I think, contrary to belief, it is not really a choice that people make as a place they want to be.

“It can take a really long time for our team to build any form of trust with these people, and eventually they will develop a strong enough relationship that we can help them find somewhere to live.”

Mr de Lira said 7,355 people were registered in the Homefinder bronze band for those already in adequate housing but wanting to move to accommodation better meeting their needs.

Silver for those at risk of losing their home or whose accommodation did not met their needs, had 4,403 people.

The gold band for homeless and others in urgent need had 1,133, and there were and 16 in the ‘emergency’ band.