Purpose

This Allocations Policy Statement provides a framework in which we allocate our homes.  The Policy is backed up by clear procedures, which are constantly under review to make sure they help us to achieve our objectives.  These are to provide homes fairly and effectively to meet housing need in the areas we operate in and to create sustainable communities where people want to live.

Policy aims:

• We will allocate our homes fairly in a way that meets our legal obligations.
  
  
• We will allocate our homes in a way that minimises the amount of time they are left empty.
  
  
• We will make sure our homes are allocated in a safe and clean condition in accordance with our relet charter.
  
  
• We will provide all residents with access to a range of support and advice services at the beginning of their tenancy.
  
  
• We will work constructively with our local authority partners to make sure the allocation of homes helps them to fulfil their duties towards people who are homeless, and people who need homes after moving from Supported Housing.
  
  
• We will meet our targets for offering homes to those applicants nominated by the local authorities we work with.
  
  
• We will try to give our customers the kind of homes they would like.
  
  
• We will work towards the development of sustainable communities where the people who live there are happy with their homes and neighbourhoods.
  
  
• We try to help all those who wish to transfer from their home or do a mutual exchange.
  
  
• Anyone who is aged 16 or over can apply to us for a home.
  
  
• We will provide advice and help to any applicant who we are unable to accept on to the waiting list because we wouldn't be able to offer them a home within a reasonable time.
  
  
• We will provide an appeals process to anyone we are unable to accept onto the waiting list, or who is unhappy with our allocations service.
  
  
• We reserve the right to carry out checks with previous landlords on all applicants before we offer a home.
  

Who do we rehouse?

Our three stream process makes sure that people in the greatest housing need are given the highest priority in the allocation of our homes, while at the same time helping towards creating sustainable communities.

Our homes can only be offered to people on low incomes due to charitable status restrictions.  Applications for these homes are subject to an assessment of the applicants' financial circumstances.

We give reasonable priority to transfer and mutual exchange requests from our own residents and those from other Social Landlords.

We reserve the right to offer homes on a "first come first served" basis where neither we nor the local authority have a waiting list.  If we need to do this, we will always try to offer a home that meets the applicant's needs.

We will accurately record all our lettings activity through the national CORE recording system for housing association allocations.

We will actively take part in any national mobility scheme.

Review of the policy

We will review all our allocation procedures every year to make sure that we still comply with any changes in the law.

We will use this review to highlight any changes to our procedures that we need to make.  This will help us to carry on meeting the housing needs in the areas where we work and to make sure that our customers are happy with the allocations service we provide.

Where we have identified a community in decline we will allocate our homes in line with selection criteria that are not part of our normal three stream system.  Before we do this we will consult with our existing residents and local authority partners.

page last updated       01/04/10