The Council has an Allocations Policy to help households who are in the greatest housing need.
Applicants will first need to apply for Council housing. Applications are processed, normally within 28 days of receipt of the application and the information required to tell us about you, your household and your housing needs. Sometimes we will ask applicants for more information, especially if they have a medical/health need for rehousing or complex needs such as for a home with adaptations.
Once we have all the information we need, the application will be placed in one of four priority bands set out in the allocations policy Those bands apply to both existing council tenants and housing applicants.
Sometimes applications will be held for further consideration or will be placed in a lower initial band while we consider more information about the priority they should receive. This is particularly the case where we refer cases to our medical needs and welfare needs panels, or if we have reason to believe someone may not be fit to be a tenant. Details of our medical needs, welfare needs and exclusion panels are detailed below.
Successful applicants will be added to the Housing Register and notified of their priority banding and the type and size of properties they are eligible for. Applicants are then invited to bid for eligible vacant properties which are advertised online by the Allocations team each week.
We will then allocate advertised properties to successful applicants. This is normally the person in the highest band who has been waiting for the longest period. We do however sometimes directly match properties to applicants in cases permitted by our allocations policy, to help ensure best use of our housing stock. A small proportion of properties may also be allocated to people outside the top priority band to help with social mobility.
Once we allocate a property, a viewing will be arranged, after which the successful applicant can consider whether to accept the new property - but applicants must have a good reason for not accepting a 'reasonable offer' made to them, otherwise their application can be re-assessed as having a lower priority.
Applicants who wish to accept a property they have been offered will then be invited to sign a new tenancy agreement, which will create a tenancy with the council (see details below) and they can move into their new home.
All key decisions taken by the allocations team (including priority banding, property eligibility, exclusion and offer suitability) are subject to a right to request a review of the decision made, within 28 days of the decision notification. We will explain this right and how to apply for review in decision letters or on applicant request.
- What Type of Tenancy Will I Get?
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If you are a new Council tenant, you will be given an "Introductory Tenancy". This lasts for one year. If there are no problems with the tenancy, e.g. the rent is paid and all other tenancy conditions are met, it will become a "secure" tenancy at the end of the 12 month period.
If you are an existing secure or assured tenant of any council or housing association, you will be given a secure tenancy.
- How is my Band Awarded
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Priority bands are based on individual circumstances. This means that those households in the greatest housing need will be placed in the highest priority band.
In general, the following housing needs are recognised within the system.
- Shared accommodation/lodger
- Lack of facilities
- Overcrowding/Lack of bedrooms
- Under occupation
- Children in one bedroom flats aged 2+
- Medical Need
- Social Need
- Homelessness
- Persons leaving the armed forces or those who have served in the last 5 years.
- Allocations Policy
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The Allocations Policy sets out the aims, objectives, priorities and processes to which Cannock Chase Council will work when allocating properties to applicants and transferring tenants.
For further information please see out Allocations Policy webpage.
- Medical Needs, Welfare Needs and Exclusion Panels:
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Our Medical Needs Panel, which is made up of independent NHS clinicians help us to make sure we assess health-related housing needs fairly. It meets approximately once every month, but the number of applications it can consider each month are limited to 15. Where we have more applications, these will be assessed in order of receipt.
We will contact applicants about a medical needs assessment if they tell us they need to move because of health-related issues - applicants need to complete a special form and provide relevant information, so we can consider these needs further. Where applicants need adaptations or special features related to a disability we may also need an assessment by the County Council's Occupational Therapy service. We will help affected applicants to get an assessment and advise them how their application can proceed, where this is the case.
Our Welfare Needs Panel meets around every six weeks and is made up of managers from the tenancy services department, who consider complex cases that have particular housing needs and/or ongoing support needs to help applicants to move home and sustain a future tenancy. We will contact applicants where such needs form part of their housing application.
Our Exclusion Panel meets around every six weeks. It considers applications where there is a reason someone may not be eligible to be on the housing register or ready to be a council tenant, because of things such as serious criminal behaviour, poor conduct of a current or former tenancy or rent arrears. Each case is assessed on its merits, taking account of the needs, right and welfare of both the applicant and the community. The panel is made up of senior officers from tenancy services and invites external representatives to attend, to provide expert evidence, such as support workers and probation staff.