Transfers and choice-based lettings (Choice Homes Scheme)
Waltham Forest is a member of a
partnership approach to rehousing called the East London Lettings
Agency. This partnership, which includes the London Boroughs of
Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Waltham Forest and Redbridge, together
with a number of housing associations and tenant management
organisations, makes a number of properties available each year to
allow people to move to from one area to another. For example it
may be possible for you to move to Newham or one of the other
partnership areas.
Tenants
with secure tenancies who would like to transfer to alternative
accommodation within Waltham Forest can apply to go on the council's
Housing Register.
Once the council have assessed your application you will be placed in one of three priority bands.
- additional preference: these are people who have been assessed as having a high level of housing need for alternative accommodation
- reasonable preference: these are people who have been assessed as having a medium level of need for alternative accommodation.
- no preference: these are people who have been assessed as having no housing need for alternative accommodation and who already have suitable housing
Every
two weeks the council advertises its empty properties through the
‘Choice Homes’ magazine (available free of charge to everyone applying
for rehousing) and through the website at www.ellcchoicehomes.org.uk
Housing associations also advertise empty homes in the magazine.
People
placed in the ‘additional preference’ and ‘reasonable preference’ bands
are eligible to apply for empty properties advertised through the
council’s Choice Homes Scheme. Every two weeks you can make a bid for
up to two suitably sized properties. People in the ‘no preference’ band
are not eligible to bid for empty properties that are advertised.
At
the end of each fortnight, the council consider the details of everyone
who has bid for each empty property. The bids are ranked according to
the preference band that they are in, with ‘additional preference’
cases ranked first, then ‘reasonable preference’.
The
council will consider the ‘additional preference’ band according to the
date of their application, with the oldest date first. The council will
rank cases within the ‘reasonable preference’ band according to the
length of time that each one has been waiting on the housing register,
with the longest registered case having priority.
The
council will generally offer accommodation to bidders with the earliest
registration date. However, if they also receive from cases in the
‘additional preference’ band, they will generally offer accommodation
to the bidders who have been a priority for the longest period.
In
certain cases, it may not be possible to offer the property to you even
though you are ranked in the highest position. It could be that the
empty property belongs to another landlord or you do not meet the
conditions of the landlord’s housing policy. For example, housing
associations may have different policies on the age and sex of children
that they will allow to share bedrooms.
People
in either the ‘additional preference’ or the ‘reasonable preference’
bands may have their preference (priority) band downgraded at any time
after we have reassessed their case, if it becomes clear that the band
is no longer appropriate.
While
most people have the chance to bid for the advertised empty
properties, there will be times where the council will have to make
direct offers of accommodation to homeless people or existing council
tenants outside the application process. At any time, to individual or
to all cases, the council reserves the right to:
- make sure they use the available housing effectively
- effectively reduce the use of temporary accommodation, and
- provide accommodation in extreme emergencies
Occasionally,
the council may need to withdraw advertised properties from the Choice
Homes Scheme. This could happen for a variety of reasons and the
council reserves the right to do this at any time, without notice.
Rent arrears
You
may not be eligible to receive an offer of accommodation if you owe
more than eight weeks’ rent or £1,000, whichever is the lower amount.