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Housing Register

What is the housing register?

The Council maintains a waiting list of people who would like to live in a housing association home in the Borough. This is known as the Housing Register. The Council also maintains a waiting list of people who already live in a housing association home who would like to transfer to a different housing association property. This is known as the Transfer Register.

When a housing association has an empty property, they will contact the Council and ask us to nominate someone from the Housing Register or the Transfer List to move into that property.

This work is all done by the Housing Needs section. Their contact details are on the Housing Needs section page.

Who is eligible to join the housing register?

Anyone aged 16 years and over, who is not already a housing association tenant, is eligible to join the housing register as a new applicant. However, you will not be eligible to join if one or more of the following applies to you:

You are subject to immigration control or you are not normally a resident in the UK and this precludes you from housing accommodation provided under Part VI of the Housing Act 1996
The Council is satisfied that you or a member of your household is guilty of unacceptable behaviour serious enough to make your household unsuitable to be a social housing tenant

If a person is aged 16 or 17 years old but has to register on the list they must have a guarantor (over the age of 18), who will guarantee the tenancy offered until the applicant reaches 18 years. The guarantor may be a parent, guardian or social worker.

Applications may be deferred (put on hold), however, for the following reasons:

If you owe money to the Council
If you have been evicted from a council or housing association tenancy due to anti-social behaviour, rent arrears or other breach of tenancy
If you are residing in accommodation which was purchased through a subsidised scheme i.e. Right to Buy, Tenants Cash Incentive or you have benefited from such a scheme and it is within five years from the date of purchase
If you have been found intentionally homeless. In such cases your application will be deferred for one year from the date of the decision
If your financial circumstances i.e. your income and savings level, property ownership or other capital investment, is considered sufficient to secure appropriate accommodation by your own means
If you refuse two offers of suitable accommodation. This will be a deferral period of two years and will start from the date of the first suitable offer

How can I join the housing register?

You can download a Housing Register Application Form. If you are a tenant of a Housing Association, and would like to transfer to another property, you can download a Transfer Register Application Form.

These forms are also available from the Housing Needs section. Please contact them for a copy of them.

If you are already on the housing register and your circumstances have changed, you must notify the Council.

What happens once an application has been accepted?

Applications are added to the category of accommodation according to the size and needs of the household. Applications are assessed and points awarded according to the points scheme.

The Council must be kept informed of any change in an applicant's circumstances as this may affect their position on the list.

Applicants receive a reminder letter once a year asking if they wish to remain on the housing register. If the Council does not receive a reply, then the application will be cancelled.