Priority groups for homeless persons are specified under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended.

If the council has accepted a duty towards you as a homeless household you will be awarded additional priority to ensure you receive reasonable preference in the allocation of council properties.

You should express interest in suitable vacancies as they are advertised.  Your expressions of interest will be monitored and if you are found not to have expressed interest when vacancies have been advertised, the Council will make you a suitable offer.  This offer will be a qualifying offer under the Homeless legislation.  Should you refuse the offer, then your housing application will be reassessed.

• This may result in you moving into a lower band.
• The Council's duty towards you as a homeless household may change; for example, the council may no longer have a duty to provide you with temporary accommodation, where a suitable offer of accommodation is refused. 

Households who have no fixed abode or who are sleeping rough A household with 'no fixed abode' is defined as somebody who sleeps at a number of different places, usually with family and friends. Bands will be awarded, taking into account circumstances such as, lack of bedroom, lodging, shared facilities.

A 'rough sleeper' is defined as somebody who sleeps rough for prolonged periods of time. Bands will be awarded taking into account circumstances such as, lack of bedroom, lack of facilities.

You could seek accommodation by considering other housing options.  Please contact the Housing Options Team on 01543 462621.

Allocations Policy

Although any owner-occupier can place their name on the Housing Register, they can only be considered for accommodation if one of the following criteria is met: -

The council has an obligation to help you because you are unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category as defined by part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended.

Your home is affected by a Demolition or Closing Order:

If you have a medical priority of two or above by the Councils Medical Panel and the equity realised from the sale of your home would be £80,000 or less, you will be considered for a council one or two bedroom bungalow.  Please note, there is no equity limit for people moving into Sheltered Accommodation.

You could seek accommodation by considering other housing options. Further details are available from the Housing Options Team on 01543 462621.

 Members of the Armed Forces – Households will qualify if, the applicant or a member of the household meets one of the following criteria:

(i) Are serving Members of Armed Forces.
(ii) The applicant or a member of their household was a serving member of the Regular Armed Forces, who left the service less than 5 years previously from the date of application and is in urgent housing need.
(iii) The bereaved spouse or civil partner of a member of the Armed Forces is leaving Family Accommodation following the death of their spouse or partner.
(iv) Is a serving or former member of the Reserve Forces who needs to move because of a serious injury,

You can place your name on the Housing Register when you are aged 16 or over, but you will not normally be offered a property until you are aged 18 as you cannot legally hold a tenancy until you are aged 18 or over.

In exceptional circumstances you may be made an offer of a property before you are 18, if you have a guarantor willing to underwrite rent payments and ensure that all other conditions of the tenancy are met.  In most cases this will be in the form of specialist accommodation which provides support services.

The Council has a legal duty to check whether an applicant is eligible to be allocated accommodation, or whether he or she is excluded under section 160(a), (1) (3) or (5) of the 1996 Housing Act.  The Council can also decide to treat an applicant as ineligible for an allocation of accommodation due to serious unacceptable behaviour under section 160(a)(7) of the 1996 Housing Act.

The Homelessness Act 2002 allows the Council to determine whether an applicant is ineligible for an allocation of a tenancy due to serious unacceptable behaviour.

Any of the following may result in your application being investigated further:

• People who have previously been evicted by this council or another local authority or social housing provider, for reasons of anti-social behaviour or for causing damage to the landlords property.
• People who have had an injunction under Part V of the Housing Act 1996 obtained against them by the Council.
• People who have been convicted of an offence relating to the supplying of drugs and who have received a custodial sentence of at least two and half years, or have received a shorter sentence that is not yet spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
• Any person where this Council, or any other local authority or Registered Social Landlord has a current injunction, or has obtained an injunction within the past three years, against them due to their behaviour towards housing staff.
• Any person convicted of a violent or threatening offence towards a Council member, a member of staff of this Council, or any other local authority or another Registered Social Landlord within the past five years.
• If you or a member of your household, are considered to have committed acts of unacceptable behaviour, you may be requested to provide additional information or attend an interview.  If the Council then decide you are ineligible you will receive a written decision giving reasons why you have been been determined as ineligible for allocation.

In these cases, your application will not be placed in a band and the application excluded.

Where the behaviour of an applicant or a member of his/her family affects their suitability to be a tenant but is not so severe as to exclude them from the Housing Register (e.g. low level nuisance) the applicant will receive reduced preference and be placed in Band 4.