Housing register

To join the Housing Register, you will need to fill out a Housing Register Application Form and return it to us by post:

Housing Options

Maidstone Borough Council

Maidstone House,

King Street,

Maidstone, Kent.

ME15 6JQ

In particular we aim to:

Respond to completed Housing Register applications within 10 working days
Respond to your correspondence (online and by post) within 10 working days
Answer your calls within 5 rings
Provide information in plain language so that it is easy to understand *
Arrange for a private interview with an Advice Assistant within 10 working days
Visit you in your home if you have difficulty coming to the council offices

Who can go on the Housing Register?

Although anyone aged 18 or above may register on the Housing Register. The council can only allocate accommodation to an applicant if they are ‘eligible for an allocation of accommodation’, as defined by statute.
While most applicants will be ‘eligible’, the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) sets out the categories of applicant who are not ‘eligible’.
British Nationals from abroad who are not habitually resident in the Common Travel Area (UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland); or who are not employed, or self-employed, in the UK.

The statute does not allow the council to allocate a joint tenancy to two or more people if any one of them is considered to be ‘ineligible’:

Any applicant who is considered ‘ineligible’ because they fall within one of the categories outlined above will be notified in writing by Maidstone Borough Council of the decision and the grounds upon which it was based and has the right to request a review of that decision by the council. Details of the procedure for requesting a review of such a decision are set out at section 18 below.
Any applicant found to be ‘ineligible’ may remain on the Housing Register but will not be allocated accommodation whilst they remain ‘ineligible’.

Choiced Based Lettings

Kent Homechoice has launched a new free website for tenants who are looking to swap their homes.

Simply register your details at www.kenthomechoice.org.uk/mx and once approved, we will give you a unique reference number. Your property will then be advertised on the website and you will be able to search for homes in Kent and elsewhere.

Once you find someone you want to swap with, you can download application forms from the site and apply to your landlord. Remember, you will need permission from your landlord before you can exchange.

All social landlords participating in CBL are committed to advertising their properties via the Kent Homechoice website. The website is updated fortnightly and properties can be seen online after 5.00pm on the Friday each fortnight. There is also a reference list of properties available at the various information points around the borough. Details of information points can be found in the Kent Homechoice Scheme user guide which you will be sent as part you new member pack.

Once an applicant has viewed available properties, a bid for up to three properties can be placed per fortnightly advertising cycle. The bid must be placed before the closing date. The closing date for each bidding round can be found on the website or the magazine.

Placing Bids

Once an applicant has viewed available properties, a bid for up to three properties can be placed per fortnightly advertising cycle. The applicant will be able to bid from 8:30am Friday to noon the following Wednesday every fortnight. The bids must reach Locata by noon to be considered. The closing date for each bidding round can be found on the website or the magazine.

Bids for properties can be made by using the website, completing a coupon per edition, text messaging, digital TV bidding, by telephone or by contacting our Customer Services Team on 01622 602440.

Once a bid has been placed, the council or the landlord will consider the bids placed for each property advertised. A list in priority order is produced of those applicants who are eligible to apply for each property. When bids are considered for properties, priority will be given to bids from people with the highest points. If people with the same level of points bid for a property, priority will be given to the applicant who has been registered the longest. In some cases priority will also be given to applicants with specific need for the property as it’s advertised.

Property description

Properties advertised through the website/magazine will include the following details:

Location including name of the road
Local facilities (shops, schools, bus routes)
Type of property including who the landlord is
Number of bedrooms and number of people suitable for the property
Any adaptations for people with mobility problems/wheelchair users
Services provided (Scheme Manager)
Heating type
Rent for the property and where applicable an estimate of the service charge
Any other criteria for letting the property

Offer

If an applicant’s name appears at the top of the priority list, the council or the landlord will check the applicant’s circumstances to make sure the applicant is still eligible for an offer. If an applicant refuses an offer, the next person on the priority list will be invited to view the property. Applicants’ are not penalised for refusing properties (some exceptions will apply, e.g. if an applicant has been accepted as homeless, details of which are in the allocations policy). Also checks about an applicants housing need might be made if several properties have been refused.

In many circumstances more then one person may be invited to view the property at the same time. This will help with the letting process, although the property is still offered to the member with the highest points that attends the viewing.

Feedback

All properties let are listed in future editions of the Homechoice magazine. Members will be told how many people bid for each property, as well as the points and registration date of the successful bidder. This will help to see how long the successful bidders have been waiting.