How Council And Housing Association Homes are Allocated
The Council, whilst offering choice, must take
into consideration the housing needs of each person or member
of their household (who resides with them on a permanent basis), to
allow those households in greatest need to be given some preference
for housing.
Applicants are responsible for notifying
Harlow Council of any change in circumstances. Applicants
will be advised in writing if these changes affect their
banding.
Priority Banding
The following categories are in line with Part
VI Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002
Band 1 - Urgent Need to Move
- Member of the household has a life-threatening medical
condition (which has been assessed as ‘special’ medical priority),
which is seriously affected by current housing.
- Homeless households towards whom the full duty has been
accepted by Harlow Council, and residing in shared temporary
accommodation arranged by Harlow Council ( excluding those covered
by 5.1.4 ) - time limited bidding – see 5.3 below
- Homeless household towards whom the full duty has been accepted
by Harlow Council, occupying temporary accommodation in the private
sector, and notice has been served ( not due to action of applicant
) – time limited bidding
- Homeless household towards whom the full duty has been accepted
by Harlow Council and where the household’s circumstances are
exceptional and suitable temporary accommodation is unavailable, eg
frail elderly person in need of sheltered accommodation – time
limited bidding
- Harlow Council agrees to a recommendation by Essex County
Council Social Care Services that there is an urgent need for the
household to be provided with alternative accommodation
- A tied tenant towards whom Harlow Council has a contractual
obligation to re-house upon termination of employment.
- A Harlow Council tenant who needs to move because his/her home
is about to be demolished or redeveloped. (Time limited bidding –
see 5.3 below)
- A household who needs to move to an adapted property based on
an assessment by the Council’s Occupational Therapist.
- A Harlow Council tenant living in an adapted property who no
longer requires adaptations and the property could be used by
someone else with such a need.
- A Council or Housing Association tenant of a Harlow property
with two or more bedrooms who is willing to move to a one-bedroom
home or give up two or more bedrooms.
- A successor to a Harlow Council tenancy who is required to move
(time limited bidding – see 5.3 below)
- An adult son/daughter of a deceased tenant who is identified
within the Council’s ‘Succession Policy’ as eligible to an offer of
accommodation following a previous succession between parents
(time-limited bidding – see 5.3 below )
- A household occupying a property which is subject to a
compulsory purchase order and/or Harlow Council has a statutory
duty to move them.
Band 2 - High Need to
Move
- Homeless household towards whom the full duty has been accepted
by Harlow Council, and who have been placed in private rented
accommodation or self-contained temporary accommodation
- Homeless household towards whom the full duty has been
accepted by Harlow Council and the Supported Housing Provider who
has provided the s193 accommodation confirms that the person has
independent living skills adequate to manage a tenancy
- The household has an urgent need to move for medical (assessed
as ‘high’ medical priority) or social reasons, as defined by Harlow
Council.
- Household with no security of tenure with dependent child (or
children) and sharing facilities within their accommodation.
- A person or household that has a need to move from care or
supported housing and rehousing has been agreed under a special
quota scheme.
- A Council or Housing Association tenant in Harlow who is
willing to give up surplus bedrooms but still needs two or more
bedrooms.
- Households towards whom Harlow Council has accepted the full
homelessness duty, but temporary accommodation has not been
provided.
- Ex Harlow Council tenant whom the Council, at the time the
former tenancy was relinquished, undertook to re-house at a future
date
- Any applicant who is statutorily overcrowded.
- A household who, despite making best use of the accommodation,
has children of opposite sex, and one is aged 10 or older, sharing
a bedroom*
- An occupant of a bed-sit sharing with a dependant child aged 3
or older
- An occupant of a one bedroom flat where parent/s have to share
their bedroom with a child aged 5 or older
- A household who, despite making best use of the accommodation,
has 3 or more children sharing a bedroom and all are aged
over 1 year*
* ‘best use’ will include opposite sex
sharing, providing all aged under 10 years
Band 3 - Identified Housing Need
- A person or household who has a need to move for medical
reasons (other than special or high medical priority), or because
of unsatisfactory housing conditions, such as overcrowding or
insanitary conditions.
- Any household with a dependent child/ren, occupying flatted
accommodation above the ground floor
- A person or household who has a need to move as identified by
Essex County Council Social Care Services care plan or has been
agreed with Social Care as a means of relieving social
hardship.
- A homeless person or household that does not qualify for band 1
(a person or household towards whom Harlow Council does not have a
statutory housing duty to house under the homelessness
legislation).
Band 4 - Other Housing
Requirements
- Homeless household towards whom the full duty has been accepted
by Harlow Council and currently living in Supported Housing to
acquire independent living skills adequate to manage a tenancy
- All other applicants who do not fall into bands 1, 2 or 3
Multiple Needs
- Applicants who meet 2 or more criteria in the
same band will be promoted by one band, unless they are in the
Council’s highest priority band – Band 1. The exception will
be that households with dependent child(ren), towards whom the
Council has accepted the full homeless duty, but who are not in
temporary accommodation, will not be promoted any higher than Band
2 if they are threatened with homelessness from insecure
accommodation in which they share facilities.
Determining Priority Between and
Within Bands
When properties are advertised, priority is
given to bids from those in the highest band.
If people from the same band bid for the same
property the person with the earliest priority date in that band
will be considered first. If more than one household has the same
priority date within the band, then the choice will be made on the
basis of who has been on the Housing Register the longest, the
exception being non-Harlow residents.
Non-Harlow residents will be considered for
offer only after all other applicants within the same band who are
resident in Harlow have been considered.
If the person is moved into a higher band at
any stage, the priority date becomes the date the person moved to
the higher band. If a household is moved to a lower band they will
retain their previous registration date.
Time Limited Bidding
To ensure the Council meets its statutory and
other obligations, certain categories of people will be given a
limited time within which they may bid for properties. These are as
follows:
- Homeless Households towards whom the Council is under a duty to
secure accommodation and who are in shared temporary accommodation
– Bidding time limited to 3 months. If no bid/no successful
bid is received within the first 2 months the household would be
interviewed and a further 4 weeks for bidding allowed. If no
subsequent successful bids are received, the Council would make one
offer of accommodation without further consultation with the
household
- Tenants who need to be moved because their home is about to be
demolished or redeveloped - Bidding time limited to 3 months.
If no bid/no successful bid is received within the first 2
months the household would be interviewed and a further 4 weeks for
bidding allowed. If no subsequent successful bids are
received, the Council would make one offer of accommodation.
- Successor to a Council tenancy and required to move - Bidding
time limited to 3 months. If no bid/no successful bid is
received within the first 2 months the household would be
interviewed and a further 4 weeks for bidding allowed. If no
subsequent successful bids are received, one offer of accommodation
would be made. The Council’s succession policy states that an
offer must be made within 12 months of death of tenant.
- Adult son or daughter of a deceased Harlow Council tenant who
is eligible for an offer of accommodation under the council’s
‘Succession Policy’ following a previous succession between parents
– bidding time limited to 3 months. If no bid/no successful bid is
received within the first 2 months the individual would be
interviewed and a further 4 weeks for bidding allowed. If no
subsequent successful bids are received, one offer of accommodation
would be made.
- Bidding time will only be extended beyond 3 months in
exceptional circumstances as determined by the Council.
Applicants Not Included in the Choice Based Lettings
System
In exceptional cases there may be a need for
urgently allocating a property to a person who needs an urgent move
on harassment or management grounds (including temporary moves and
decants). In such cases a suitable property will be
identified by the Council and matched to the applicant outside of
the normal bidding process.
When a Notice to Quit is served on the
Council by one party to a secure tenancy, the former joint tenant
left in occupation will be offered the tenancy (on a management
moves basis outside of Harlow Home Finder), providing that the home
is not larger than required, which will be determined using the HHF
property entitlement criteria. When the remaining occupant is
under-occupying the property, s/he will be considered for suitable
alternative accommodation via a management move. This will not
apply if the remaining party has been in breach of his/her
conditions of tenancy to an extent that the Council had already
secured a Possession Order, or where the departing tenant had been
forced to leave due to domestic violence. ( Revision to policy by
Housing Committee 7-09-06 )
Where the Council agrees to a joint tenancy
being granted in place of an existing sole tenancy ( providing that
the home is not larger than required, using HHF property
entitlement criteria ), the tenancy will be offered on a management
move basis, outside of HHF. ( Added to policy by Housing
Committee 7-09-06 )
Up to two units of accommodation per annum
may be allocated outside of HHF to households requiring an
alternative home through the Witness Protection Scheme. ( Added to
policy by Housing Committee 7-09-06 )
Decants and Temporary Moves to Allow Major Repairs
The following policy only relates to tenants of Harlow Council
properties.
‘Temporary moves’ applies to tenants whose
current homes require major refurbishment
Households being housed through this route
will not be subject to the Council’s Choice Based Lettings System
and properties will not be advertised through the system.
Households will return to their original home upon completion of
repairs.
Decants apply to tenants whose homes are to be
demolished or re-developed and their move will be a permanent one;
households being housed through this route will be subject to the
Council’s Choice Based Lettings System and properties will be
advertised through this system.
Applicants who are identified as being part of
a decant programme due to re-development will be placed in Band 1
and be subject to time limited bidding. In such cases,
houdeholds will only be eligible to bid on a like-for-like basis
unless they would, as a standard transfer applicant, be eligible
for Band 1 or 2. Applicants who would qualify for Band 1 or 2 under
normal circumstances will be able to bid for any property for which
they are eligible ( see 4: Property Entitlement ).
The Bidding Process
People who are eligible to bid and express an
interest in a property will be matched in the following order:
Highest banding households will be matched
first: if more than one applicant from the same band applies then
date of registration is the deciding
factor ( subject to place of
residence see 5.2 ). If nobody in band 1bids, the council
will look at bidders from band 2 and so on.
This will generally mean applicants who
receive a lower banding are less
likely to be successful when bidding for those
properties that are in
greatest demand.
People will be given time to consider an offer
of a tenancy. The person or household will normally be allowed 3
calendar days from when a provisional offer is made to make a
decision
Some people who have been identified as
vulnerable may be given longer to consider the offer of a tenancy.
Examples of this may include people who are currently in hospital
or in some form of temporary accommodation, such as a hostel or
refuge.
There will be no penalties for refusing the
offer of a tenancy. The exception is in the case of certain
categories subject to time limited bidding (see 5.3 above) and
applicants towards whom the full homelessness duty has been
accepted.
The Council reserves the right to withdraw any
offer of accommodation where
there is just cause. An explanation of why the
offer has been withdrawn will be made to the person or household
directly affected.
Joint Tenants
The Council and Housing Associations within
Harlow encourage
joint tenancies to be offered to married
couples or people living together as partners. The Council will not
normally offer a joint tenancy to a parent and child.
If one person of a household was ineligible to
join the register (i.e.
excluded as per 2.3 above), then a joint
tenancy cannot be granted.
The Council or other social landlords will
consider offering a joint
tenancy to household members who have long
term commitments to each other, for example when adults share
accommodation as partners (including same sex partners) or live in
carers.
For additional information, read Harlow Council's Housing Allocations
Policy.