Choice of Housing Accommodation
Applicants have a choice of property types and areas they would
like to consider and have the opportunity to express preferences
about the housing accommodation to be allocated to them.
To try and be as fair as possible in deciding who should be
offered properties, the Council uses a points system. The system is
based on an applicant’s housing circumstances, suitability of the
property, and any medical problems. Points are also given for the
time applicants have lived in the area and for waiting time.
As points will be assessed from the information given on the
form, care should be taken to ensure that all questions are
answered.
Joint applicants should note that if you have children and you
and your partner live apart, the form should be completed from
where the children live.
A home visit will usually be carried out before an offer of
accommodation is made, to ensure that the applicant’s points
reflect their circumstances.
When a vacancy occurs, it is usually offered to the applicant
with the highest points total, who is eligible for that type of
property. However, because of the shortage of social housing and in
order to make best use of all the available stock, there may be
occasions when properties are prioritised for applicants who have
particular medical needs.
For disabled persons there is a limited range of purpose built
and adapted properties and people with disability will be
considered for suitable vacancies on the basis of medical
priority.
Level access accommodation will be allocated according to
medical need, where applicants with mobility problems have been
awarded between 6 and 10 medical points.
If two applicants have the same total, the applicant who has
been registered the longest will be offered the property.
Priority for houses will be given to applicants with dependent
children.
Because there is a lack of four and five bed accommodation,
priority for properties with three bedrooms and two living rooms
(parlour type) will be given to larger families, to make best use
of all the available stock
In order to promote sustainable communities, applicants with a
local connection of 10 years with any of the villages in the
district, within a 10 point range of the highest applicant, will be
given priority.
The Council reserve the right to determine the size of housing
accommodation according to family size and housing need in view of
the shortage of social housing in the district. The number of homes
which become empty each year is far less than the number of
applications the Council receive. For this reason the following is
a guide to the type of property the Council will consider
suitable:
|
Single person under retirement
age
|
Bedsit, 1 bedroom flat or
house
|
|
Single person over retirement age
|
Bedsit, 1 bedroom flat,
house or bungalow
|
|
Couple under pensionable age
|
1 bedroom flat or house
|
|
Couple over pensionable age
|
1 bedroom flat, house or
bungalow
|
|
Family with 1 child
|
2 bedroom flat, house or
maisonette
|
|
Family with 2 children of same sex
|
Two bedroom flat, house or
maisonette
|
|
Family with 3 children or 2 children of
opposite sex or 4 children of the same sex or 2 children of
the same sex with an age difference greater than 7 years
|
3 bedroom house, flat or
maisonette
|
|
Family with 4 or more children of opposite
sex
|
4 bedroom house or flat
|
|
Single person/ couple with access to
child/ren
|
Upper floor flats
|
Contact
Tel: 01304 872265
Email: housingneeds@dover.gov.uk
