An introduction to Kent Homechoice

1. An introduction toKent Homechoice www.kenthomechoice.org.uk

2. What is Kent Homechoice? • Kent Homechoice is the choice based lettings scheme for council and housing association homes in Kent and Medway. • It is the largest scheme in the UK with 38 local authority and housing association partners.

3. Registration • Obtain an application form from: • Local council office • By calling or emailing the local council to have one sent in the post • By printing a copy from the council’s website

4. Assessment • The council assesses the housing need of the applicant. Some do this using bands and some use points. • Each council will have an allocations policy to explain their eligibility criteria and how they decide housing need. • The council will register the applicant onto the scheme and write to advise what band they are in or how many points they have. • The applicant will be sent an information pack in the post which explains how to take part in finding a home through the scheme.

5. Bidding • An applicant can bid on three homes per fortnight. • They are advertised every fortnight: • Online at www.kenthomechoice.org.uk • On digital TV • At the Council reception area • Personalised freesheets • Bids can be made all day Friday until the following Wednesday at 1pm.

6. Bidding • Bids can be made: • Online at www.kenthomechoice.org.uk • By telephone • By text • By posting a special coupon • By digital TV • You can only bid for properties in the area you are registered in. • Someone else can submit a bid on your behalf.

7. Offer • At the end of the bidding period, all bids for homes are put in priority order to produce a list of eligible applicants for each property. • The property will be offered to the bidder at the top of the list (usually in the highest band or with the highest points and who has been registered on the scheme for the longest). • The successful applicant will be contacted by the council and invited to view the property. • If the applicant wishes to refuse the property they will not be penalised for future bids. The property will instead be offered to the next person on the list.

8. The demand for social housing • The demand for council and housing association housing far outweighs its supply. • Since July 2008 13,885 households have been housed through Kent Homechoice. • There are currently 44,377 households on the 13 housing registers in Kent. • The housing has to go to those in most need to be a fair system. • It can take time before many people are successful.

9. Reasonable preference • Reasonable preference categories set out in 167 (2) of the Housing Act 1996 include: (a) People who are homeless or owed certain duties under the homelessness legislation (b) People who are owed a duty by any local authority under section 190(2), 193(2) or 195(2) of the 1996 Act (or under section 65(2) or 68(2) of the Housing Act 1985) or who are occupying accommodation secured by any local authority under section 192(3) (c) People occupying insanitary or overcrowded housing or otherwise living in unsatisfactory housing conditions (d) People who need to move on medical or welfare grounds, including grounds relating to a disability (e) People who need to move to a particular locality in the district of the local authority, where failure to meet that need would cause hardship (to themselves or to others)

10. Reasonable preference • Section167(2) also gives local authorities the power to frame their allocation scheme so as to give additional preference to particular descriptions of people who fall within the reasonable preference categories and who have urgent housing needs.

11. The future • Common Assessment Framework for Kent. • Localism Bill: • Greater powers to council’s to restrict access to waiting lists (but will retain reasonable preference categories) • Greater powers to council’s to discharge homelessness duty into the private rented sector • Flexible tenancies

12. Questions?