CORNWALL’S housing crisis means every social housing allocation matters.

That is why I believe Cornwall Homechoice now needs to look more closely at three linked issues: suitable placements, protection for scarce local housing opportunities and better local reporting.

Direct lets are important. They allow homes to be allocated without the normal bidding process in urgent cases such as homelessness, domestic abuse, safeguarding or where specialist accommodation is needed.

So I am not arguing that they should stop, but an urgent housing need does not automatically mean that every vacant property is suitable. It is not fair to place someone with complex support needs in a location where treatment, services or professional support are difficult to access.

That can leave the recipient isolated and struggling, while neighbours may find themselves dealing with antisocial behaviour, threatening visitors or criminal activity that should properly be managed by landlords, support services and other agencies.

A referral to a service is not the same as an agreed and deliverable support package.

The second issue is local housing need. Where a property is directly matched, someone already waiting through Homechoice may lose a rare opportunity to live close to family, friends, carers and established support networks.

That matters particularly where certain property types become available only occasionally. My proposal is a local next-vacancy guarantee. The first urgent direct let would still go ahead, but if a shadow shortlist showed that an eligible Band A or Band B applicant with a primary parish connection would otherwise have been first, the next comparable vacancy should be protected for qualifying local need.

This would not guarantee one named household permanent priority. Local applicants would be ranked again when the next suitable home became available.

The third issue is transparency. The council reports that 98 per cent of direct-let recipients had a Cornwall connection. But Homechoice itself distinguishes between primary parish, neighbouring parish and wider Cornwall connections.

A Cornwall connection is not the same as a connection to the community where somebody is housed.If parish-level connection matters when homes are allocated, it should also be visible when outcomes are reported.

With Homechoice due to be reviewed early next year, I have submitted a full report to Cabinet requesting changes to the way direct lets are assessed, how scarce local opportunities are protected and how outcomes are reported.

The aim is not to set vulnerable households against existing communities.It is to make sure people are placed somewhere they have a realistic chance of succeeding, neighbours are not left carrying risks that should be professionally managed, and scarce local housing opportunities are allocated fairly.

Local fairness should mean the right home, the right support and a fair opportunity for local housing need.