In the last few weeks, 10,000 people across Wiltshire have been told they can no longer apply for social housing – what used to be called a council house.

Wiltshire Council says it has done this to make clear that homes are allocated to those in most need, and that people classed as having ‘no identified housing need’ will no longer be eligible.

The criteria used to decide who ‘needs’ housing is complex (you can read it for yourself on the council’s website). I won’t go into the detail of who they think ‘needs’ housing first: what is disturbing is the thought that by focussing on those already in distress, the council are removing hope from lots of ordinary people.

Telling 10,000 people that, as of now, they don’t count, because that is the message they are getting regardless of the careful way it is worded, seems really harsh and cruel.

These are people who aren’t on the streets yet, or living in really dreadful houses. Many don’t earn enough to be able to consider buying a house or flat at today’s prices, even with the schemes like Help to Buy.

Some will be young men and women who have left school, found their first job and want to move out of the family home. For many of them, private rents, let alone a mortgage, are far above their earning power.

What happens when they want to get married and/or start a family? Are they supposed to live with Mum and Dad forever – or are parents supposed to harden their hearts, throw them out and hope they then qualify as being in need of housing quickly, without having to genuinely experience sleeping rough. Some people might say that’s a good thing, and that people should think harder before having families and expecting the council to then find them a home.

What about older people who worry that they will not be able to afford the private rent which currently eats up over half their income when they get past 65 and are living on a pension?

It seems there simply aren’t enough houses to go round, and that too many of what there is are too large for a couple to afford to rent on their own, because of the ‘bedroom tax’ which means they may then not qualify for housing benefit. The very fact that there are 10,000 people in the Bronze housing band who are now felt ‘not to be in immediate need of housing’ tells you how many more homes are needed.

Yes, there are social housing providers locally building homes, mainly when large developers are creating giant estates – and those aren’t popular with those living near the fields we are losing.

I heard the term BIMBY –Beauty In My Back Yard – for the first time this week. If only all the homes we need could be beautiful ones, when the harsh reality is that what we really need is the 21st century equivalent of the rows of two-up, two-down back-to-back terraces which were the late 19th and early 20th century’s answer to that housing crisis.