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INDEX
1.
How can I get a Council home ?
2. How do I get on the Housing Register ?
3. Who cannot go on the Housing Register ?
4. What is a local connection with Aylesbury Vale
?
5. What are the income limits ?
6. Can a homeless person join the Housing Register
?
7. Will you consider me to be in need of housing
?
8. What if I don't need housing now but I will do
in the future ?
9. Engaged couples and unmarried couples who do
not have children
10. Will you house me from the deferred section
of the Housing Register ?
11. What will happen to my application when I send
it in ?
12. How will you calculate my housing need points
?
13. What if I am about to be made homeless ?
14. Once I have joined the Housing Register, do
I need to do anything else ?
15. Can the Council cancel my Housing Register
application ?
16. If I get to the top of the waiting list, where
will I be invited to view accommodation ?
17. What type of accommodation will you offer me
?
18. How many offers will I get ?
19. What should I do when I get an invitation to
view a property ?
20. Will you offer me a Council property ?
21. Is there anyway you can house me outside the
normal points scheme ?
22. What can I do if I don't agree with your decision
?
23. Are your housing policies fair to all sections
of the community ?
These notes are about :-
How to apply for Housing and How we assess applicants' priorities under the Council's Housing Allocations and Transfer Policy.
Please read these information notes before you complete your application form for our Housing Register. Our waiting list is called the Housing Register.
Although we would like to offer housing to everyone who needs it, our resources are limited. Each year, we have fewer properties in our ownership and therefore fewer homes to offer to people on the Housing Register. We do all we can to make the best use of our housing stock. We also work with housing associations (Registered Social Landlords), who have high standard housing in our area.
These notes cannot cover everything. So if you fall into any of the groups listed below, please ask for the appropriate leaflet for additional help and assistance.
Whatever you do, please do not simply give up your home in the hope that you might get a Council home. We may well not be able to house you, so you should always check your position with us before you take any action.
If you have any difficulty filling in the form or if you don't understand anything in these notes, your Housing Lettings Officer will be pleased to help. You can come into our Walton Street Office without an appointment between 10 am and 12 noon, Monday to Friday. Otherwise, please phone, or make an appointment to see your Housing Lettings Officer at our Walton Street or Buckingham Office (Telephone number 01280 812295.
The Housing Needs and Advice Section
Department of Housing, Health and Leisure
84 Walton Street
Aylesbury
Bucks. HP21 7QT
Tel: (01296) 585168, 585189, 585104, 585105 and 585108
If you need information in another language, or larger print please ask us.
1.How can I get a Council Home ?
We keep a Housing Register, or waiting list, of people who qualify for housing in Aylesbury Vale.
To qualify for a Council home, you first need to apply to join the Housing Register. The Register is kept in order of housing need, so that the most needy applicants are at the top of the list. That's why we have to ask you a lot of questions on the application form - to see how much you need a Council home.
2. How do I get on the Housing Register ?
Please fill in the application form so that we can check if you qualify for the Housing Register. Normally, you can only join the Housing Register if you meet the six requirements listed below. Remember, you need to be able to comply with all six of these, although special rules apply to certain homeless people, and special needs cases.
The six requirements are:-
(a) You are a qualifying person (Section 3 below)
(b) You have a local connection with Aylesbury Vale. (Section 4 below)
(c) You do not have any rent arrears or similar debts.
(d) You have a recognized need for housing (Section 7 below)
(e) You are at least 16 years of age.
In addition, if your last home was suitable and you left it or lost it without taking reasonable steps to keep it, we will not accept you to the Housing Register for six months.
3. Who cannot go on the Housing Register ?
The law that certain kinds of people are not "qualifying persons", and so cannot go on the Housing Register. We will explain our reasons, if we think that this applies to you. Examples may include:
(a) People we have good reason to believe might cause serious nuisance to neighbours or damage to our property. We will take account whether:
(b) People we have good reason to believe might not pay their rent, because they have a record of high rent arrears with us or another landlord.
(c) People from abroad who are subject to immigration control. Our leaflet "people from abroad and the Housing Register" explains. (Back)
4. What is a local connection with Aylesbury Vale ?
You have a local connection with Aylesbury Vale if you fit one of these descriptions:-
(a) You or your partner has lived in the District for at least the past six months immediately before applying.
(b) You or your partner has worked in the District for at least the past six months immediately before applying. To qualify, the place of work must be in the District.
(c) You or your partner satisfy the other five requirements listed in section 2 (above) but you have not lived or worked in the district for six months immediately before applying, and you satisfy one of the following:-
Or
(d) You or your partner are of state retirement age and have lived for three years out of the last five in the District.
(e) You are a member of the Armed Forces and you or your partner lived in the District for at least one year before enlisting or going into service accommodation.
(f) You are resident or in a residential establishment in Aylesbury Vale, having had a permanent home in Aylesbury Vale for the six months immediately before being admitted to the establishment. For example, if you are living in Croft House, we will only accept your application, if you lived in Aylesbury Vale for at least six months before you went into Croft House. (Back)
5. What are the income limits ?
With effect from 1st April 2000, applicants may apply to join the Housing Register irrespective of their income. However, applicants on low incomes will receive additional points.
We will asses whether you qualify for additional points if your income falls below £20,000 for an applicant with no children, or £25,000 for an applicant who either has a child or children permanently living with them, or who is expecting their first child.
We will deduct from your earnings, any amount which you or your partner is required to make due to an order by the Child Support Agency (CSA) or other independently documented regular maintenance payments. You will have to show us proof of the order.
We review these amounts regularly. They apply to new applicants only, so it doesn't matter if your income rises above the limit after you are on the Housing Register. If your income initially exceeded the limits which would have given you additional points, but your earnings are reduced, you can be awarded any additional points on account of this at the annual review of your application, subject to proof of earnings.
We ignore savings under £8,000. However, we assume that any savings over £8,000 earn you £1 a month for every £250 (or part of £250) over £8,000.
You must attach details of all your income and savings with your application form. This will include:
6. Can a homeless person join the Housing register ?
By law you qualify for the Housing register if we owe you a duty as a homeless person. Please refer to our separate leaflet "Help with Homelessness" for information.
If you are unintentionally homeless, and are not in a priority group, we will put you on the Active section of the Housing Register once you have lived in our District for at least six months. In the meantime, we will put you on the deferred section of the Housing Register. Your Lettings Officer will explain, if this applies to you.
7. Will you consider me to be in need of housing ?
You must have a need for housing to join the active section of the Housing Register. In order to qualify, you and your household must fall into one of the following circumstances in your current home:
8. What if I don't need housing now but I will do in the future ?
If you are not in housing need now, but you meet the requirements for joining the Housing Register, then your application will be placed on the deferred section of the Housing Register. This will apply to you, if you are:-
This will give us advanced warning of when you will need housing, and help us to help you.
Please see section 9, below, if you are an engaged couple, or a couple living together, without children.
9. Engaged couples and unmarried couples who do not have children
a) Engaged couples.
If you qualify for our Housing Register, and are engaged to be married, you do not live together, you may register for housing in the future. We will put you on the deferred section of the Housing Register for 12 months, and you will get points for waiting time. Then, if your circumstances are still the same, we will move you to the active section of the Housing Register. You will not get any points for housing need while you are still engaged and living apart.
If you get married or start to live together during the 12 months, please let us know.
b) Unmarried couples who are living together.
Do you and your partner qualify for our Housing Register, live together, are not married, and do not have any children living with you? We will ask you to prove to us that you have lived together for at least the last 12 months. You can do this by showing us bank statements, bills and so on, addressed to you at the home you share. We will then do one of the following:
10. Will you house me from the deferred section of the Housing Register ?
Normally, you can't be housed directly from the deferred section of the Housing Register. Very occasionally, we offer housing to an applicant on the deferred section, where there is no suitable applicant on the active section of the Housing Register, or on the transfer list.
The idea is that, when the times comes that you need housing, you will move on to the active section of the Housing Register. The point of registering on the deferred section is to get points for the time spent on this list. So, when you move from the deferred section to the active section of the Housing Register, you will not go on to the bottom of that list. The following groups are exceptions, because they can be re - housed directly from the deferred section, provided they have enough points:
A) People about to become homeless following the service of a valid Notice of proceedings for Possession (Assured Non-Shorthold tenancies) or Notice to Quit (certain other types of tenancy, licence, or occupancy) and where there is no legal defence to the Landlord's claim. In this case, you will also be asked to show us the original Tenancy Agreement entered into with your Landlord. We will also want to see any legal notices which your Landlord gave you at the start of your tenancy.
B) Tied tenants who have to leave their home due to ill health or retirement.
C) People about to become homeless following a Court Possession Order (or a certificate of Cessation of Entitlement to occupy Armed Forces accommodation).
D) An estranged spouse of a member of the Armed Forces obliged to leave the Ministry of Defence property, as confirmed by the M.O.D., subject to proof that the relationship has broken down. Normally, you will need to get a divorce as proof that the relationship has broken down.
E) Yound people who are subject to a Care Order of the Social Services Department, which expires when the applicant has reached the age of 18.
11. What will happen to my application when I send it in ?
When we get your form, we will check :-
Then we:-
You can help us to deal quickly with your application by filling in all relevant parts of the form and sending in all the documents we ask for on the form.
12. How will you calculate my housing need points ?
We will work out your points using the list given in Appendix 1, and using the following information.
(a) Only half points are given to:
- Single people aged 18 and over;
- Couples with no children under 16, and if the woman is not expecting a baby;
- Applicants with a Contact Order for children;(b) We consider that you lack a bedroom if a bedroom isn't available for each of the following;
- Couples living together as husband and wife;
- Any other adult aged 18 or over, except those who could share with a brother or sister of the same sex;
- Each child of a different sex where the older child is aged 8 or over;
- Each child of the same sex where there is a 10 year difference in their ages.(c) So, the number of bedrooms available to you is compared with the number you need. You get points for those you lack. For example, if you are a couple with one child, you need to have two bedrooms. You will get points for lacking one bedroom, if only one is available to you.
However, if you have a second bedroom, but use it for storing things which could be stored elsewhere, you will not get points for lacking a bedroom. This is because we take into account the rooms available to you, no matter how you actually use the accommodation. We take account of accommodation available to all members of your family.
(d) We assume that every person, including children and babies, needs one bedspace. We will give you points for overcrowding, if you have fewer bedspaces than you need. We also assume that the number of bedspaces in each type of property is as follows.
Property Type Number of Bedspaces Bedsit 1 1 bedroomed property 2 2 bedroomed property 4 3 bedroomed property 5 4 bedroomed property 7 So, for example, if you are a couple with one child living in a one bedroomed flat, you would lack one bedspace and be given 20 points.
(e) We give points if you have to share facilities. For example, you may share a bathroom or kitchen with someone who is not going to live with you when you are housed. We also give you points, if you lack the facility altogether, and it cannot reasonably be provided. If you are disabled, and cannot get to a facility because of your disability, we will give you points for lacking the facility.
(f) Finally, we give points to families who have to live apart, where they would be overcrowded if they lived together.
13. What if I am about to be made homeless ?
If you are homeless or about to be made homeless, we will give you advice and help, to try to stop you from being homeless. Please get in touch with your Housing Lettings Officer, or the Housing Needs and Advice Section, if this applies to you.
We will also give you advice on whether you can join the Housing Register. Our leaflet "Help with Homelessness" gives further details.
14. Once you have joined the Housing Register, do i need to do anything else ?
YES. First you must renew your application every year, or every six months if you are a single person. After we have registered you on the list, we will send you a reminder when you need to renew your registration.
If you haven't renewed within two months of the required date, we will normally remove you from the list. If you then reapply, you will lose any waiting points you have under your previous application. The reason for this is to keep our list up to date.
Secondly, you must tell us about any changes in your circumstances, so that we can re-calculate your points. If you deliberately make your circumstances worse to try to get more points, your points will not be increased for six months. This will apply if, for example, you don't take reasonable action to keep your home, or if you get into arrears with your rent or mortgage, when you would have been able to pay.
15. Can the Council cancel my Housing Register application ?
YES. We regualrly review our Register, so that we know how many applicants need to be housed.
Under the law, the Council must remove a person from their Housing Register, if it is apparent that the applicant has never been, or is no longer, a qualifying person. We will remove you from the Housing Register, if you have been rehoused by us, a Registered Social Landlord or another local authority, unless we still have to help you under our homelessness duties.
We must also remove you from the Housing Register if you ask us to do so, unless we have a duty to help you under our homelessness duties.
By law, we must give you at least 28 days' notice in writing, to give us any information we need. If you do not answer, we will cancel your application after three months. If you apply again after this, we will treat this as a completely new applicatiion.
16. If I get to the top of the waiting list, where will I be invited to view accommodation ?
We have divided our District into fifteen areas, known as Allocation Groups. We will offer you accommodation in the Allocation Group in which you live, unless you ask for another Allocation Group for one of the following reasons:
(a) You, or a member of your household works in the other Allocation Group.
(b) You, or a member of your household have parents or children in the other Allocation Group.
(c) You or a memeber of your household needs to give support to, or recieve support from close relatives. This will be subject to medical reasons which are supported by a recommendation from your medical advisor. You must arrange and pay for, any medical support.
(d) You, or a member of your household do not have close relatives in our District, and you need to give or recieve support from other relatives or friends. This will be subject to medical reasons which are supported by a recommendation from your medical advisor. You must arrange and pay for, any medical support.
We cannot guarantee to offer you a property in the same town, village or estate where you or your family live. However, on your application form, you can list up to 3 preferences, and we will do our best to suit you.
17. What type of accommodation will you offer me ?
We will make sure that the home we offering is an appropriate size for what you need. please see how we allocate properties, in Appendix 2.
18. How many offers will I get ?
Only one reasonable offer of suitable housing will be made, having regards to your needs.
The home we offer you will be in the Allocation Group for which you are registered, and will be of an appropriate size as set out in Appendix 2. In addition, we will try and take into account any reasonable, genuine and verifiable social and medical needs you may have, provided tha you made these known to us in writing, before we made the offer.
Your offer will be in writing. Please do not consider thet you have been made an offer until you receive it in writing. Similarly, if you refuse the offer you must do so in writing. Please say what your reasons are, so that we can assess whether you have good reason to refuse.
If we agree with you that the offer is not reasonable, we will make you another offer. However, you may have to wait several weeks or months.
If you disagree that any offer was a reasonable one, the matter will be referred to the Director or Local Members, as appropriate, for a decision. If it is still felt that the offer was reasonable, we will re-offer you the property.
If you refuse again, we will offer the property to someone else, and you will remain on the Housing Register. However, in these circumstances you will not be considered for another offer for a period of six months. After that time, we will only be able to make you another offer if you are at the top of the Housing Register.
19. What should I do when I get an invitation to view a property ?
You should act on an invitation to view accommodation within three working days of receiving our letter, by arranging to look at the property. The letter will tell you how to borrow the keys. Some times, we will look at the property with you, to help you decide whether to accept the offer.
You should decide whether to accept the property, within two working days of viewing it. If, without reasonable explanation, you do not view the property or give us your decission to accept the property within these time limits, we will withdraw the offer.
20. Will you offer me a Council property ?
Not necessarily! It may be a council property, a nomination to a property owned by a Registered Social Landlord, or tenancy with a private landlord.
Registered Social Landlords ( also called housing associations) are non- profit-making bodies that exist to provide housing for those in need. Most of them receive their funding from a central Government body called the Housing Corporation, which also regulates and monitors them. Registered Social Landlords are completely independent of the Council. Their accommodation is of a high standard.
If you become a tenant of a Registered Social Landlord, you will have very similar rights to Council tenants. For example, they will not normally be able to evict you, provided you pay the rent and keep to the terms of the tenancy. You will have rights to take in lodgers, to sublet part of the property, to exchange your property, and to make certain repairs and improvements. Some tenants of Registered Social Landlords have the Right to Buy their home, or to a grant to buy another home. This will depend on the age of the house, so you may wish to check with the Registered Social Landlord which is making you an offer.
Once you have been housed by any of these means, we will remove you from the Housing Register.
21. Is there any way you can house me outside the normal points scheme?
We may give you additional priority in the following circumstances.
(a) Overriding medical priority. If you are so ill, that you cannot carry on living in your current home, we may be able to re-house you. If this applies to you, you should ask your doctor to write to the Community Public Health Physician, who in turn will make his recommendation to us. We will then decide, taking this recommendation into account.
(b) Agricultural workers. We will accept agricultural workers who have a recommendation from the Agricultural Dwelling Houses Advisory Committee.
(c) Difficult-to-let properties. Some of our properties are difficult to let, normally because of their location or type.
If there are no suitable applicants on the Housing Register for a difficult-to-let property, we will let it to one of the following, in this order:
If you take a difficult-to-let property under one of these categories, we will not normally be able to consider you for a transfer to another property for at least two years.
(e) Young people in the care of the Social Services Department who are subject to a Care Order which expires when they reach the age of 18.
22. What can I do if I don't agree with your decision?
We will do our best to treat you fairly, and to follow the law and our policy. You have the legal right to a review of you Housing Register application, if we decide either:
The first step is to discuss your case with the Lettings Officer. Or you can write to your Lettings Officer within seven days of your being notified of our decision. You should give us your reasons for disagreeing with our decision.
The Housing Needs and Advice Manager or Senior Housing Lettings Officer will reassess our decision, and let you know the results, by writing to you.
For further information, please see the separate leaflet " Housing Review and Appeals Procedure". You may also ask a District Councilor for help, if you are not satisfied with how we have dealt with your housing application. We can tell you how to contact your Councilor.
23. Are your housing policies fair to all sections of the community?
We aim to ensure that all members of the community have equal access to our housing services.
We have an equal opportunities policy that commits us to ensuring that no tenant, prospective tenant or other customer of housing services receives less favourable treatment on grounds of race, colour, creed, nationality, ethnic or national origin, or are placed at a disadvantage by conditions or requirements that cannot be shown to be justifiable.
We have adopted the Race Relations Code of Practice in rented housing and will make every effort to carry out its recommendations to avoid direct and indirect discrimination, and to take appropriate action in cases or racial harassment.
