Social housing
If you’re looking to apply for a new social home, or exchange your current property, we may be able to help.
What is social housing?
Social housing refers to homes where the rent is linked to local incomes. Provided by local councils and housing associations (like us), it's a genuinely affordable and secure way of renting your home.
The rent is not only linked to local incomes - rent increases are also limited by the Government. This means your home stays affordable long-term, so you aren’t priced out of your community by rising rents.
Applying for social housing
To apply, you only need to complete
one application, and you will automatically
be considered for homes with a partnership
of around 18 social home landlords
in Manchester – including us
Once you apply, you bid for the homes,
and the landlord decides who is allocated
the home, based on their allocation policy
Already registered?
If you’ve already registered with Manchester Move, you can also access your existing account using the above link and check which ‘priority band’ you are in, and what your ‘queue date’ is. Both will affect which kind of home you can bid for, and how quickly you could be offered one.
On low-income?
Anyone on low-income can apply for social housing, although sadly we will not be able to cater for every single person. We prioritise based on need, doing our best to support people where we can. You can find out more about the expected waiting times by visiting the Manchester Move website.
How we allocate our homes
We always allocate homes in a clear and fair way, prioritising those who need it most and have waited the longest.
To allocate and deliver our social homes, we use Manchester Move.
Got further questions?
Check out the FAQs below. If you still have questions about social housing or our processes, you can contact us directly here.
If you are an existing One Manchester customer and need support completing an application, please email us with your name, address, and contact details.
If you are housebound, we can arrange a home visit from our team to help you complete the form, and we offer translators where needed.
It depends on your circumstances, which areas you choose, and the type and size of property you want. Unfortunately, we can’t predict how long it will take to find you a social home, as people are continually being added to the list and changing circumstances are constantly being assessed. As soon as your application has been processed, you will be able to see which band you are in and what is available.
Manchester Move is the place to find advice on the best housing solutions for your circumstances. This may include social housing, private renting, home ownership, and mutual exchange.
We can’t promise you will be successful in applying for a social home with One Manchester. Our Allocations Policy and the Manchester City Council allocation policy inform our decisions.
We’re committed to offering as many affordable housing options as possible, depending on your circumstances.
Shared Ownership homes allow you to take a first step into home ownership. With Shared Ownership, you buy a share of your property between 25%-75%, depending on what you can afford, and then pay rent at 2.75% on the remaining share. This means that you need a smaller mortgage, and a smaller deposit. You can find out more on our Shared Ownership page.
Do you want to buy your own home, but are struggling to afford the deposit with high renting costs? Our Rent to Buy properties mean you can rent and live in a home whilst saving up to eventually buy it. Take a look at our Rent to Buy page for more information.
Market rent is the going rate for similar rental properties in the area, and we offer several homes that are available at market rent. For our new-build market rent homes, you can register your interest with our team and we’ll be in touch regarding the application process to ensure you have a fair chance of getting a property.
New developments to rent or buy
We’re dedicated to providing good quality homes for our customers and communities, to do this we continue to build affordable, high quality and secure new homes across Greater Manchester. Take a look at the new homes we have available to rent or buy through Shared Ownership or Rent to Buy schemes.