"Your Choice" has been designed to improve access to affordable rented
properties in the Lichfield District, owned by housing associations. The system
works by advertising available homes and allowing customers to express interest
in them via our web-site or by telephone.
The scheme aims to simplify the way in which you can rent a home and takes into
account the date on which you registered onto the scheme. Customers are
assessed for housing need and personal links to the district, and advised which
of our four priority bands they are in. Details of the bandings can be found under "banding information".
Anyone over the age of 18 can apply to register onto the Your Choice scheme.
If you are a 16 or 17 year old, you will be required to provide us with a
suitable guarantor for the tenancy. A guarantor needs to be in employment and
willing to be responsible for the tenancy until you reach the age of 18.
All we ask is that you complete a simple on-line registration form.
When you apply, HomeZone Living will require your permission to obtain a reference for
any tenancy or mortgage held in the last 5 years. If you have a mortgage, a
copy of your most recent mortgage statement is an acceptable alternative to a
reference. You will not be able to express interest on properties until we have
received a satisfactory reference.
Where an unsatisfactory reference is received we will undertake an
investigation and you will be required to attend an interview. You will be
advised if you are allowed onto "Your Choice" on completion of the
investigation.
If you are already a HomeZone Living tenant, a check will be made to see if you have a
clear rent account or if you owe us any other debts. An offer will not be made
until all debts have been cleared.
Any Landlord participating in "Your Choice" may wish to obtain updated
references before offering a property.
If you are an existing HomeZone Living tenant and are offered a move, we will need to
carry out an inspection of your current property to ensure that it has been
kept in an acceptable condition, in accordance with your tenancy agreement.
Should the inspection not be satisfactory you will be suspended from receiving
offers until any works identified have been rectified by you. Other Landlords
will wish to do similar inspections.
What are priority bands and how do I know which one applies to me? |
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Priority bands help us to target assistance to those with a local connection
with the greatest need, while allowing other applicants some access to re-
housing. Those with no connection to the district are placed in the lowest
priority band.
Customers are assessed and put into one of four bands. Bands 1-3 apply to
applicants with a local connection. Band 1 covers those in greatest need, Band
2 those with some need for re-housing and Band 3 those with no housing need
according to "Your Choice" criteria, but with a local connection. Band 4 covers
applicants with no connections with the District.
The answers given on the registration form will enable us to see
which band you fall into and how many bedrooms you need. You will be informed
of the decision in writing.
If you disagree with the assessment, details of how to appeal against a
decision can be found below.
Is there provision for exceptional circumstances? |
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If there are exceptional circumstances that you feel are due special
consideration, you can request a review by a special cases panel consisting of
the Lettings Manager, Care Manager and Housing Manager, plus a Lichfield
District Council representative where appropriate. The panel will usually only
consider cases supported by evidence of the exceptional circumstances from a
professional body e.g. medical professionals, police, social services.
Do I have a time limit within my priority band? |
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Applicants awarded band 1 priority will be reviewed on a regular basis to see
if they are expressing interest in suitable properties advertised, as this
group should be the applicants in most severe housing need. If they have not
expressed interest and suitable properties have been advertised, they may have
their priority reassessed and may lose their priority status.
If there no suitable properties have been advertised, the band 1 status will
continue. If anyone disagrees with the decision made to reduce the priority
status, details of how to appeal can be found below.
If you are homeless or threatened with homelessness, you should contact
Lichfield District Council (telephone 01543 308709 or 01543 308711 before
10.00 am or after 4.00 pm.) If you are accepted for housing on the grounds of
homelessness, you will be placed in Band 1 and will have to bid for properties
in the normal way. The Council will monitor your bids every month, to ensure
that you are bidding for appropriate properties and if you have not bid for
properties the Council thinks would be suitable, they may bid on your behalf.
If you refuse to accept a property the Council has selected for you, or any
other reasonable offer, they may decide that their statutory duty has ended and
your banding would then be reviewed. However, you can appeal to the Council if
you think the property is not suitable.
If I have no housing need, will I be able to express interest? |
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Yes. We acknowledge that people who are considered adequately housed would like
an opportunity to move and therefore we will allocate 10% of advertised
properties to band 3 customers and 10% to band 4 customers every year. The
advert will say which band of customer can apply for a particular property.
Can I access all vacant properties in this way? |
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All vacant HomeZone Living properties will be advertised through "Your Choice". Other
participating Housing Associations will advertise a proportion of their housing
stock in the district through "Your Choice". The Local Authority can also
nominate "Your Choice" applicants to other Landlords with properties in the
district. It is therefore possible you will receive offers of suitable
accommodation that have not been advertised through "Your Choice".
Occasionally HomeZone Living may need to delay advertising a property to accommodate
tenants who need to be temporarily re housed while major works are being
carried out in their own property, or for other emergency use. In exceptional
circumstances a property may not be advertised but used to move an existing
tenant to a new location. This is called a "management move"
How will I know which properties are available? |
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Properties due to become vacant will be advertised in the Lichfield Mercury and Tamworth Herald, and on our web site.
Public access to the Internet is available free at local libraries.
The adverts will advise you of each property's Landlord, location, rent, size,
special features etc and will clearly state which customers are eligible to
express an interest. The advert will state the appropriate bedroom need, the
preferred banding and any age restrictions, e.g. bungalows may be advertised as
over 60 only.
If you do not have access to the newspapers mentioned or the Internet, we will
send you a list of properties advertised.
How do I let you know I am interested in a property? |
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If you see a property advertised and you meet the criteria, you can express
interest via our web-site, by
telephoning the bid line 01543 420905 or by visiting our offices. The closing
date for bids will be clearly stated in the advert.
Can I express interest in properties not advertised for applicants in my priority band |
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Yes, if you match the other criteria in the advert but preference will be given
to applicants in the advertised priority band.
Can I express interest in more than one property at a time? |
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Yes, but do not bid for properties when you do not match the advertised
criteria (unless the only difference is the priority band), e.g. we will not
consider bids for 3 bedroom properties from applicants with a 2 bedroom need.
Multiple bidding will not increase your chances of receiving an offer.
Once the closing date has lapsed, all expressions of interest are compiled as a
short list, prioritised according to the advertised criteria. An offer will
then be made by the relevant Landlord to the person who meets the criteria and
has been on the register the longest (subject to any pre-offer checks).
The successful customer will be informed that they are to be made an offer
within five days after the closing date. If you have not heard by then you can
assume that you were not successful and you will be able to continue expressing
interest in properties included in later advertisements.
Will I know what has happened to the properties advertised? |
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Information about properties that have been let will be published. We will
provide the number of interested customers who met the required criteria and
the date the successful applicant registered.
This information will give you a better idea of how popular a particular area
is and how long you would typically wait. You may then decide to look for
other property types or less popular areas where you may not have to wait so
long.
The Landlord will make a formal offer in writing and arrange for you to attend
an accompanied viewing of the property before you make a final decision about
whether you want to take the tenancy. You will not be allowed to express
interest in another property while you are considering an offer.
What if I do not like the property following the viewing? |
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If you do not like the property you will remain on the register and will be
free to express further interest in other properties in future adverts. However
if you are a Statutory Homeless case, you may lose your band 1 priority if you
refuse a reasonable offer.
If you simply feel that all the relevant circumstances have not been fully
taken into account in assessing your banding or bedroom need, you can write to
the Lettings Manager asking for a review of your case.
If you disagree with any decision you can appeal to the Assistant Director of
Housing Services. Write to the Lettings Manager at HomeZone Living, 5 Stowe Road,
Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6WA, stating you wish to appeal to the Assistant
Director and giving your reasons. The Lettings Manager will pass all the
relevant information to the Assistant Director who will make a decision.
If the matter is still not resolved, there are further stages of appeal to the
Director of Housing Services and to a panel of Board members. Phone the
Lettings Team for more information about appeals.
Our Customer Services Team will be pleased to assist - you can contact them on
01543 420800, between 08:45 and 17:15 Monday to Friday.
Please note some of the participating partners in "Your Choice" are charitable organisations.
This means that before they grant any tenancy they will need to check whether you are a charitable beneficiary.
You may therefore be asked for further information about your circumstances if the property you
are bidding for is owned by a charitable Landlord. You may also be refused a tenancy by a charitable Landlord
if you are not a charitable beneficiary.
A charitable beneficiary means someone in receipt of welfare benefits or a low income, older
people, people with disabilities, those who have a long term physical or mental illness or people in other
recognised charitable need.
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