What properties do social housing providers want? Mostly ordinary two- and three-bedroom family houses, in towns where councils need to place people, at prices where the rent stacks up. For Guaranteed Rent Hub that means Liverpool and Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Wigan, Lancashire, Blackpool and the North East. Outside those areas, or where houses are expensive for the rent, a lease rarely works.

I'm George Samoila. Most landlords who contact us want to know one thing before anything else: would a provider actually want my house? Here is how we answer it.

What properties do social housing providers want?

Providers want homes they can fill quickly and keep for years. That means a house in a residential street, close to shops, schools and transport, in decent condition, with bedrooms big enough to meet the standard. Family houses are the biggest single need, followed by shared houses for supported housing and, in some cases, flats.

The demand is real and it is family-shaped. On 31 March 2026 there were 135,580 households in temporary accommodation in England, a record high, and 86,460 of them were families with children. Councils would rather house those families locally: of the 1,940 North West households placed outside their own council area, 99% were still placed within the North West, according to the same release.

Where do we have providers?

Our provider network covers Liverpool and Merseyside (including Bootle and Sefton), Greater Manchester, Wigan, Lancashire, Blackpool and the North East. In each area we work with several providers, not one, so if one can't take a house the next one might.

If your house is outside those areas, we'll tell you straight away rather than leave it sitting on a list. It doesn't mean your house is bad. It means we don't have a provider there, and we would rather say so than waste your time.

To understand who these providers are and how they're funded, our post on the social housing ecosystem explains the difference between councils, housing associations and the providers we place houses with.

Which house types are providers taking?

In our areas, this is roughly what's in demand right now:

• Two- and three-bedroom houses for families in emergency and temporary accommodation. This is the bulk of what we place.
• Four-bedroom houses for larger families, mainly in the North East. Some providers want these furnished, with a reception room of at least 25 square metres.
• Shared houses (HMOs) for supported housing: people leaving homelessness, care leavers and vulnerable adults. These need the right licence and, in many boroughs, planning permission.
• Flats, in some cases, for resettlement schemes such as people leaving prison. This is more selective and depends on the building.

Whatever the type, every bedroom needs to be at least 6.5 square metres, and the safety paperwork needs to be in order. We covered what providers check in what happens when a provider views your property.

Does the rent stack up against the price?

This is the test most enquiries fail, even inside our areas. Providers are funded largely through housing benefit and council budgets, so the rent they can pay is tied to what the system pays, not to the top of the open market. If your house is worth a lot compared with that, a lease won't beat letting it privately.

The best public guide is the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). For 2026/27 it stays frozen at April 2024 rates. Here are some of this year's rates in our areas, from the Valuation Office Agency's LHA tables, converted to a monthly figure:

Area (broad rental market area)	2 bed	3 bed	4 bed
Greater Liverpool	£137/wk (~£593/m)	£150/wk (~£648/m)	£201/wk (~£873/m)
Wigan	£115/wk (~£499/m)	£137/wk (~£593/m)	£178/wk (~£773/m)
Central Greater Manchester	£201/wk (~£873/m)	£219/wk (~£947/m)	£311/wk (~£1,346/m)
Fylde Coast (Blackpool)	£125/wk (~£540/m)	£144/wk (~£623/m)	£171/wk (~£740/m)
Tyneside	£127/wk (~£549/m)	£150/wk (~£648/m)	£213/wk (~£922/m)

Weekly rates are rounded; monthly is weekly × 52 ÷ 12.

The quick test: take the yearly LHA for your house's size and divide it by what the house is worth. If that comes out under about 5%, guaranteed rent is unlikely to be the right product for that house.

• A £100,000 three-bed in Liverpool: £648 × 12 = £7,776, about 7.8%. Worth a conversation.
• A £300,000 three-bed in central Manchester: £947 × 12 = £11,364, about 3.8%. Probably better let privately.

LHA is not the rent you'd be offered. Depending on the contract, a provider can pay above it, and supported housing where care is provided isn't capped by it at all. But it's the quickest honest check we know, and we run it on every enquiry. You only hear an actual figure once a provider has shown interest in your specific house.

What this means for you

If you own a two- or three-bedroom house in one of our areas, at a price where the test comes out above about 5%, a provider may well want it. Send us the details and we'll check it against our providers.

If your house is outside our areas, or the test comes out low, we'll tell you plainly and tell you what we'd do instead, even if that's "keep your tenant and pay the agent". The downside of a lease, said out loud: the provider chooses the house, not the other way round, and you keep the repairs a lease leaves with the owner.

FAQ

Do providers take houses that need work?

Sometimes, but the house has to meet their standard before the lease starts. Small jobs such as decoration, flooring, alarms or certificates are common. Bigger problems like damp, an old boiler or undersized bedrooms usually need fixing first, at your cost, before a provider will sign.

Will a provider take my house if it's outside your areas?

Not through us. Our providers cover Liverpool and Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Wigan, Lancashire, Blackpool and the North East. If your house is elsewhere, we'll say so straight away. A local provider may still exist, but we can't vouch for one we don't work with.

Is the rent the same as the Local Housing Allowance?

Not necessarily. LHA is a public guide to what the housing benefit system pays for a home that size, and providers' budgets are tied to it on most routes. Some contracts pay more. The real figure comes from the provider, once it has seen your house's details and is interested.

Which areas have the most demand right now?

In our network, Liverpool and Merseyside and the North East, where family houses sell at prices that suit the rent. Greater Manchester is in our network too, but higher prices there mean fewer houses pass the rent test. We'll tell you where your house sits.

Would a provider want your house?

Send us the address, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and when it's available. We'll check it against our providers and come back to you.

Submit your property