The Gateway to Homechoice scheme has been fully
operational since April 2009 and is the way council and
housing association properties for rent are allocated across the
following local authority areas: Babergh, Braintree,
Colchester, Ipswich, Maldon, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk
Coastal.
The scheme has been designed to make the allocation of social
housing more transparent and offer greater choice.
If you are looking for social housing in one of the areas
stated above there is now only one application form to
complete. To register for the new scheme please use the link
below:
Gateway to Homechoice
From here your application will be assessed and you will receive
a banding letter along with a Scheme Guide which has further
information.
Your needs will be assessed against the same clear set of
criteria regardless of where you currently live and you will be
able to bid for properties that you would like to live in.
Offers are made in line with the new policy, first looking at
priority bands, followed by effective dates.
If your circumstances have changed and your housing
situation has become worse you should contact the CBL
Assessment Team on 01376 552525. If you are threatened with
homelessness or are homeless you need to contact the Housing
Advisory Team on 01376 552525.
What is Choice Based Lettings?
Choice Based lettings (CBL) is a new way of allocating social
housing - both council and housing association properties.
The government expects all housing authorities to have introduced a
choice based lettings system by 2010.
Braintree District Council, along with 7 other local authorities
who form the Greater Haven Gateway sub region have worked together
to establish a common CBL system.
The local authorities that form the partnership are:
- Babergh District Council
- Braintree District Council
- Colchester Borough Council
- Ipswich Borough Council
- Maldon District Council
- Mid Suffolk District Council
- Suffolk Coastal District Council
- Tendring District Council - deferred to a later date.
This partnership has many advantages. It allows us to
standardize the way in which people apply for housing. We are also
able to use a common method for assessing housing need and
it allows people to apply for homes that become empty outside
the traditional district and county boundaries. Previously, people
without a connection to a particular area were accepted onto the
Housing Register but had little or no priority for housing.
It may be helpful to explain why the change was needed and how
the new CBL scheme actually works.
Why change the current system?
Previously, Braintree District Council had a banding scheme but
decisions as to who were offered homes was made by Housing
Officers. When a home became available to let, they would look at
those in highest housing need and arrange for the home to be
offered to them.
And so whilst this system of letting homes had served us well
over the years, we were aware that it was not always seen as being
fair, open and transparent.
The new scheme allows the applicants to see what homes are
available in the areas of their choice, helping them to make
informed decisions about their housing options.
Since the implementation of the scheme in April 2009 a number of
enquiries regarding the surrounding policies and the general method
of allocating properties have been received.
We have compiled the following information that we feel may
help:
-Number of new applications;
-Number of applicants within each band;
-Number of applicants housed within each band; and
-Number of each property size let
In addition to the above information, choice based lettings also
takes into account other factors which contribute to the length of
time an applicant may wait to be successfully housed:
-Length of time an applicant has been registered
for: is a factor that is considered and can impact on
waiting time as much as banding position. The
"Recent Lets"
table (available by following the link) will provide more
information about the waiting time of those housed each week.
-Areas an applicant will consider living in:
the areas an applicant will consider living in can play a role in
how long they may wait to be housed. Some parts of the
Braintree District have more homes for social rent than
others as well as some areas in the district being more
popular. By considering a number of areas to live
in, an applicant may have more opportunities available to
them.
For further information please contact our Customer Services on
01376 552525 or email us on
homechoice@braintree.gov.uk
Local Connection
Some affordable homes in rural areas are built on rural
exception sites to specifically help meet the housing needs of
local people and are therefore let differently than other
affordable homes.
When applying for these homes, the strength of applicants' local
connection takes priority over banding. The computer system
recognises applicants in order of highest band but staff need to
examine the details of each applicants local connection and assess
it against the local connection cascade developed by the parish
council and local authority. Homes are let first to
households with the strongest proven local connection to the
parish, followed by banding.
When bidding for these properties, queue positions can often
change as some applicants may have mistakenly indicated a local
connection on their application form, or the system has recognised
an applicant as having the highest banding but the assessment of
the local connection, which will take priority over the banding, is
still being carried out by staff.
The formal shortlist of applicants is only produced once staff
have assessed applicants against the local connection cascade.
Homes in Bures (August 2010)
The homes advertised in Bures Hamlet will be allocated in
accordance with a local lettings policy. Offers will be made
to applicants with the strongest local connection as stated by the
local connection cascade below and then by housing band.
Applicants must be able to prove their local connection to Bures
Hamlet.
Local Connection Cascade (Bures Hamlet):
1) Applicant lives in the Parish of Bures Hamlet and/or;
2) Applicant is a member of a family (as defined in Housing Act
1985) and/or;
3) Applicant is employed in the Parish of Bures Hamlet;
4) If there are no eligible candidates with proven local connection
to Bures Hamlet that fall into the above categories, then
applications from the parishes of Bures St Mary, Alphamstone,
Lamarsh, Mount Bures or Twinstead will be considered against the
criteria above.