HOUSING
How do I apply to be considered for Housing by the Association?
The Association no longer maintains its own waiting list for any of the areas in which our properties are situated.
All areas are covered by a common or joint housing register and are administered by the council or a nominated contractor for the area of the property i.e. Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council or Broadland District Council, and you would need to apply through their individual housing application systems.
What happens to the applications next?
If you have applied directly to the Association:
All applications are assessed by the Association’s Operations Manager in accordance with a Points System. As the Association receives far more applications than it has homes available, it is necessary to determine which have the greatest housing need. When doing this an applicant’s current circumstances are considered in conjunction with their ability to possibly find other housing as well as whether or not the Association is likely to have available housing of the type and in the location requested.
Once your application has been considered you will be sent a letter advising you of the outcome of your application. It will also contain details of how you can appeal against the assessment if you are not satisfied with the way your application has been considered.
What are “Common” or “Joint Housing Registers”?
A common or joint housing register is where the local council and a number of housing associations have agreed on a joint allocations system. This means that applicants only need to complete one application form which can be used to assess their housing circumstances and preferences, enabling them to be considered for all of the housing that they are eligible for and have expressed an interest in being considered for.
Who is part of the Common/Joint Housing Registers?
Locally the Association has joined together with the following:
Norwich City Council
Broadland District Council
North Norfolk District
Waveney District Council
South Norfolk Council
Breckland District Council
A number of other local Housing Associations, including all major providers in the area, are also party to the Scheme.
"Choice Based Lettings", what does this mean?
Choice Based Lettings is when a housing applicant is awarded a banding that identifies their housing need. All available social housing along with other property options is advertised through the local press, specially designed website, property brochures etc. You can then apply for a property that has the same or a higher banding than the band you have been awarded. For example, if your application is given a silver band, and there are 4 properties advertised which are given the following banding:
Property 1 Gold banding
Property 2 Silver banding
Property 3 Bronze, Silver banding
Property 4 Gold, Silver banding
You would be able to apply for properties 2,3, and 4.
Applicants are then assessed and the applicant who has been in the highest applicable band for the longest period of time will be offered the property.
Who operates Choice Based Lettings?
All local authorities must move to a Choice Based Lettings System of allocation by 2012. In East Anglia, the Borough Council of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk (known as West Norfolk Homechoice) and Great Yarmouth Borough Council, (known as Homeselect), and the Greater Norwich Housing Partnership, consisting of Broadland District Council, Norwich City Council and South Norfolk Council, (known as Homeoptions), currently operate a full Choice Based Lettings System.
Waveney District Council are planning to introduce a Choice Based Lettings Scheme in January 2008, joining Great Yarmouth's Homeselect Choice Based Lettings system.
How do I apply for housing in my area?
Anybody who wants to apply for housing in the local authority areas listed above will only need to fill in one application form for each area. This application will enable applicants to be considered for housing by the Council and all of the participating Housing Association's. With the exception of Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council and Broadland District Council who now operate a Choice Based Lettings Scheme, one application will cover all of these areas.
To obtain an information pack and an application form for each area contact the Association or:
Norwich Housing Register
Norwich City Council
City Hall
St Peters Street
Norwich
NR2 1NH
Tel: 0844 980 3333
Email: HousingOptions@norwich.gov.uk
Broadland Housing Register
Broadland District Council
Thorpe Lodge
1 Yarmouth Road
Thorpe St Andrew
Norwich
NR7 0DU
Tel: 01603 431133
Email: housing.advice@broadland.gov.uk
South Norfolk Council
South Norfolk House
Swan Lane
Norwich
NR15 2XE
Tel: 01508 533622
Email: housingregister@s-norfolk.gov.uk
To apply online for Home Options please click below:
Home Options Online Application Form
Great Yarmouth Lettings Partnership – Homeselect
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Greyfriars House
Greyfriars Way
Great Yarmouth
NR30 2QE
Tel: 01493 846160
Email: homeselect@great-yarmouth.gov.uk
To download Homeselects application form and self assessment form please click below:
Homeselect – Great Yarmouth Borough Council Registration Form
Homeselect – Great Yarmouth Borough Council Self Assessment Form
Homeselect – Information Booklet
North Norfolk Housing Register
North Norfolk District Council
PO Box 6
Council Offices
Holt Road
Cromer
Norfolk
NR27 9EA
Tel: 08000 855889 (Freephone)
To download North Norfolk District Council’s housing application form please click below:
North Norfolk District Council’s housing application form
Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk – West Norfolk Homechoice
Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk
Environmental Health and Housing
Housing Needs (West Norfolk Homechoice)
Priory House
Austin Street
King's Lynn
PE30 1EB
Tel: 01553 616678
To download West Norfolk Homechoice’s application form, medical assessment form and special needs assessment form please click below:
West Norfolk Homechoice housing application form
West Norfolk Homechoice medical assessment form
West Norfolk Homechoice special needs assessment form
Waveney Joint Housing Register
Waveney District Council
Housing and Environmental Services
80 Clapham Road
Lowestoft
NR32 1RB
Tel: 01502 523141
Email: hes@waveney.gov.uk
To download Waveney District Council’s housing application form please click below:
Waveney District Council housing registration form
ARP Trading Ltd
Breckland House
St Nicholas Street
Thetford
Norfolk
IP24 1BT
Tel: 01842 756416/418/422/427
Fax: 01842 756513
Email: ARPTradingLtd@breckland.gov.uk
If you require any help in completing your application, please feel free to contact the Association for assistance on 01603 612927 or any of the listed partner Associations or local authorities.
How long will I have to wait for housing?
It is difficult to predict how long you will have to wait as there are usually more people wanting re-housing than there are properties becoming available. This means that not all applicants can be housed.
In most cases properties are offered to applicants in great housing need and even then they may have a lengthy wait as only a small number of properties become available every year.
The applications will be given priority according to housing need and will then be placed on the Register. When any of the partners to the Register has a vacancy it will seek a nomination from the local authority and offer it to the applicant nominated by them as being most in need of the property. It is Cotman policy to ask all nominees to also complete our own application form and to carry out a home visit prior to making an offer of tenancy.
What type of tennancy will I be given?
The Association will usually offer an Assured tenancy agreement, however in some instances it may be more appropriate to offer a different type of tenancy, for further information please see below.
Are there different types of tenancies?
We offer 5 types of tenancies they are:
Secure Tenancy
These apply to residents who became tenants of the Association before 15th January 1989. After this date we were prohibited from granting new secure tenancies due to new legislation. The exceptions to this are some transfers and mutual exchanges. If a secure tenant transfers within the Association’s own stock, they retain their secure status and are granted a new secure tenancy. Similarly, if a tenant of the Association or any other social landlord exchanges with an existing secure Cotman tenant, they also become secure tenants. This is because they swap tenancies and so take on the rights and status of the outgoing resident
Assured Tenancy
The majority of the Association’s residents are assured tenants. This is the type of tenancy offered to most residents after 15th January 1989. Assured tenancies were introduced by the Housing Act 1988 and the rights of residents are largely conferred by this important piece of legislation. Assured tenants still have security of tenancy and the Association can still only end a tenancy by court order, for which, in most cases it is necessary to demonstrate that it is reasonable to do so. The main differences were the abolition of the right to have rents set by the Fair Rent Officer and the introduction of a new mandatory ground for possession at eight weeks rent arrears.
Assured Shorthold
These tenancies are also governed by the Housing Act 1988. They are for a fixed period of at least six months. At present, the Association only grants assured tenancies to persons less than 18 years of age or exceptionally to persons whose housing history presents serious concerns about their ability to sustain a tenancy. We will only grant tenancies to persons under 18 if they have a rent guarantor. Assured Shorthold tenants have considerably less rights than full assured tenants. After the end of the fixed period, the landlord is able to give two months notice to the tenant at any stage. There is no need to prove a case and there is no legal right of appeal. In practice as a responsible landlord, the Association would only exercise this right if it had serious concerns about the conduct of the tenancy in terms of either rent arrears or anti-social behaviour. In the rare cases where an assured Shorthold tenancy is granted, a decision is taken after one year or on the 18th birthday of the tenant as to whether to grant a full assured tenancy or to allow the Assured Shorthold tenancy to continue on a statutory periodic basis pending further review, or in extreme cases, to end the tenancy.
Licence Agreement
This type of agreement applies to hostel dwellers and to residents of Almshouses, such as Brewster Court , for which Cotman is the managing agents. Licenses are granted where the resident does not have exclusive possession of the whole property and/or no rent is charged for occupation of the property. Residents at Brewster Court do not pay a rent for their occupancy of their home, although they do pay a Maintenance charge for the services they receive. Occupiers on a licence agreement have very limited rights. They do not have tenancy status and have the right only to four weeks notice from the landlord. In practice, neither Cotman Housing Association nor the Trustees of Brewster Court would serve notice on a resident without considerable evidence that this was the only reasonable course of action in all the circumstance of the case.
What period of notice do I have to give the Association?
In accordance with your tenancy agreement you are required to give the Association at least four weeks written notice if/when you wish to end your tenancy and at the same time your responsibility for paying the rent. The notice is only valid from a Monday. If it is received by the Association after Monday it cannot be backdated.