How to Apply for Housing A Guide for Customers

Transcription

1 How to Apply for Housing A Guide for Customers Introduction Following the re-introduction of asra s housing register this document aims to set out the procedure by which applicants can apply to our housing register and be short listed for properties that are advertised via our website. Registration Applicants wishing to apply to go on asra s housing register can apply online through our website at Applications can also be completed by telephone, office interview or home visit where ever the customer does not have access to online facilities. A paper based application form is available upon request. Before filling out the form, please have the following information available: Ensure you know all the date of births for all on the application including yourself. National Insurance number for yourself and anyone else who is over 16. If expecting, due date for the baby(ies). Your (and any joint applicant) current address and details of previous address s (if applicable) for the last 5 years. If you or any other members of your household currently own a property, you will be asked of your intentions regarding this property if you intend to rent a home with asra. This is because we are a non-profit charitable housing provider. Income and savings for you and your partner. To fill out the online application form please complete all the relevant boxes. This can be done by using the drop down menu or selecting the radio button ( ). Please ensure all questions that apply to you and your household are completed. Some questions must be answered before you can move on to the next part of the application these will be marked as Required. The more accurately you complete the form, the faster the processing time will be in regards to your application. Once the application has been submitted you will be notified via (or any other required method of contact as you stated in your application) of the band you have been placed in. Generally, a band reflects the level of priority your application has been given as a result of your household circumstances. For a full explanation of bands, please see Appendix A. Subject to your application being completed thoroughly and accurately, your application will become live and you can begin to express an interest in our vacancies within 2 working days of registration. In exceptional cases we may return to you with a request for further information to support your application. It is important that you respond to this swiftly so that we can complete the registration process and you can start to express an interest in vacancies. 1 P a g e

2 Eligibility Our Allocation Policy determines who is eligible to apply for a home with asra. Most people can make a successful application and we would encourage everyone to apply on our website There are some cases where we will not be able to accept applications. These circumstances are summarised below and a full explanation can be found within the Allocations Policy: People who are subject to immigration control within the meaning of the Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 or any person ineligible for social housing accommodation or who fail the habitual residence test undertaken at the time when we verify their application. People who are not subject to immigration control, but are nevertheless prescribed by regulation as being persons from abroad. Applicants (or a member of their household) who have been guilty of unacceptable behaviour and at the time of their application for housing they are still considered unsuitable to be a tenant by reason of that behaviour or where any member of the household has been evicted within the last 3 years. Any other reasons whereby an applicant is unable to secure public funds or is otherwise unable to show adequate means by which he/she could pay the rent. Applicants who currently own their own home unless they are moving on welfare grounds i.e. elderly persons requiring sheltered accommodation, disabled or vulnerable applicants requiring additional support, risk of homelessness, domestic abuse, fleeing violence or racial harassment or having a housing need and equity of less than 16,000). Single people and households requiring up to 2 bedrooms, with a total gross household income above 60,000 Households requiring 3+ bedrooms with a total gross household income above 74,000. If you are unsure if any of these situations apply to you please contact a member of the team who can offer assistance or advice. Advert Cycles There will be 2 advert cycles per week on our website, Monday Wednesday and Thursday Sunday. Properties will be available for expressing an interest on these cycles. A small percentage of these properties advertised will clearly state on the advert that they are only available to transfer applicants or those placed in the Choice Plus banding. For a full explanation on this, please refer to the Allocations Policy. Applying for Properties You will be able to express your interest in a property via our website. You can express an interest in up to 2 properties per advert cycle. This means that you can express an interest in 4 properties weekly. There is a substantial amount of information contained within an advert such as post code, map link, photos, floor plans, specific location and property details. Applicants are encouraged to take full 2 P a g e

3 advantage of the tools and information available at the time of expressing interest to ensure you only express an interest in properties you can see as your potential home. Shortlisting After an advert cycle has ended, all expressions of interest from applicants will be reviewed. These applications will be placed in the following order: Bands 1, 2 & 3 Transfers Choice Plus Band Band 1 Band 1 Date of registration Band 2 Band 2 Band 3 Band 3 Followed by date of registration Followed by date of registration A shortlist of applicants, based on information given at the time of application, will be produced. This is produced based firstly on the banding order (1,2,3) and secondly takes into account the dates of registration within that band. *Refer to Appendix 1. A provisional offer of the property will be made to the applicant who is placed highest on the shortlist for that property. Applicants will then be asked to verify their circumstances, provide evidence, etc as part of the verification checks. Those who fall into the Choice Plus Band and express an interest for properties on this list will be shortlisted by date of registration only. Offer of a Property The Lettings Negotiator will make a provisional offer of a property via telephone or . (Unless an applicant has indicated a different method of contact is appropriate). Therefore in order that we can contact you it is essential for you ensure all of your contact details are up to date. On this initial contact we will expect the applicant to indicate if they are interested in the offer of the property. In exceptional circumstances a provisional offer letter will be sent and you must respond within 2 working days to say you are interested. If you do not respond within this time, this will count as a refusal and the property will be offered to the next applicant on the shortlist. All offers of a property are only provisional and are subject to a thorough evaluation process. Details can also be found under Section 6.4 Provisional Offers in our Allocation Policy. This may include the following: A Pre-Allocation Interview where we will check and ensure that you have been placed in the correct band. If your circumstances have changed this could affect your application and the property may no longer be suitable. A Pre-Tenancy Income Assessment to ensure that you can afford to maintain a tenancy and all the associated household costs. A Pre-Tenancy Interview which may include a home visit to gather further information if required. Landlord reference checks with your current and/or previous landlords. 3 P a g e

4 Criminal Records Background check. Credit check. Risk and vulnerability assessment We will check if any support agencies are needed to help you sustain your tenancy. Viewing of the property before any signup can take place. On occasions asra Housing Group will issue multiple offers to applicants. You will be contacted by telephone, or your preferred method of contact and you will be told that a multiple offer has been made. You will also be told whether you are the first applicant at this time. Viewing a Property You will be notified of when you can view the property and will be expected to view the property within 2 working days of the works being completed. All viewings will be attended by the Lettings Negotiator. Where multiple offers have been issued, we will arrange multiple viewings with more than one applicant who may wish to view the property. Each applicant will be informed prior to attending the viewing that multiple viewings have been arranged. Refusal of a Property Properties can be refused if they do not meet your requirements. Should you refuse 3 offers of accommodation your housing application may be affected. This is why we ask that you research the information provided in the advert before expressing an interest, such as post code, map link, photos, floor plans, specific location and property details. At a viewing there may always be reasons why it is apparent that a property is not suitable for you, but reasons like property location for instance, should have been discounted at the point of advert. After the third refusal you will be required to take part in a interview; you will be asked to come into the office or contacted by telephone, so that we can determine if the reasons for refusals are reasonable and offer any assistance if required. In cases where suitable offers are refused your application may be re-banded or in extreme cases be suspended. Suspensions Applications may be suspended due to the following reasons: Refusal of 3 offers of accommodation (as highlighted in Refusals). At the stage of an offer, if you are found to be in rent arrears with no repayment plan in place your application could be suspended for a period of 6 months. (If you are in arrears you are encouraged to get a repayment plan in place now). Under investigation following unacceptable behaviour. If you fail to place a bid for a property for a period of 6 months. 4 P a g e

5 Renewals We regularly review our waiting list to ensure applicants are actively seeking accommodation. All applicants on the register for housing are subject to renewal every 12 months. Leading up to the first anniversary of your application you will be contacted by to confirm that you wish to remain on the register for housing and that your circumstances have not changed. You will only be contacted by telephone if there is no address. A letter will only be sent out once all methods of contact have been exhausted to confirm if you still wish to remain on the register for housing and you will be given two weeks to respond. Failure to respond will result in your application being cancelled. If you fail to reply by the given deadline you will be expected to re-apply where this will result in a new registration date. If you have a change of circumstances which may affect your banding at renewal stage you must inform us as soon as possible. The general rule is, if you tell anyone agency about it, then we also need to know (birth of a child, change in benefits, loss or gain of employment, rehousing, etc). A member of our team will be available Monday Friday between the hours of to answer any questions or queries you may have regarding your application. 5 P a g e