Subsidised or social housing within Maidstone is provided by us and housing associations. There's a limited supply of this type of housing within the borough. Private rented properties will often provide more choice and tend to be available on a more frequent basis.

If you're interested in subsidised housing, you'll need to apply to be on the housing register.

The housing register is for anyone over 18 who is eligible and meets the qualifying criteria. You'll need to have a housing need, and have a local connection to Maidstone and your current financial circumstances will also be considered.

Housing need

You'll have to fulfil at least one of the following criteria.

Medical

You must be able to prove your current accommodation is unsuitable for your household's needs due to a medical condition.

Welfare

Covering a wide range of circumstances including:

• Someone moving on from care or who provides or receives care or support
• Someone who wants to live independently but requires additional support
• Someone moving on from a drug or alcohol recovery programme

Unsatisfactory housing

Your current housing has been assessed and a significant hazard has been identified.

Overcrowding

Your current housing is lacking one or more bedrooms and is not considered suitable for your needs.

Under occupancy

Your current housing has one or more bedrooms than is required for your household.

Hardship

If you need to move to prevent or alleviate hardship you may have a housing need. This includes:

• If you're experiencing financial hardship
• If you need to move to take up employment, training or education opportunity

If you’re experiencing financial hardship you will need to complete and return an income and expenditure form.

Local connection

You'll need to fulfil at least one of the following criteria:

• lived in Maidstone for the last three years
• work in Maidstone for a minimum of 16 hours a week

For more information on the criteria for joining the housing register read our allocation scheme.

Apply to join the register

To apply to join the housing register, you'll need to provide information to support your application.

Apply

Once you have completed your application, you can provide the supporting evidence on the Kent Homechoice website.

When we've assessed your application and confirmed your eligibility, we'll send you a letter with your bidding number and tell you which band you have been placed in.

Bank statements

When you apply, each adult in the household will be asked to provide bank statements from all bank accounts. They must be dated within the last two months. Find out more about uploading bank statements.

The bands

Band C – Community contribution

This is for those people who provide a service to the community. This includes through employment, volunteering, fostering, carers and members of the armed forces.

Band H – Homeless

This is for those who are defined as homeless under the 1996 Housing Act and have a Homelessness Prevention, Relief, or Main Duty accepted.

Band R – Reasonable preference (unsuitable housing)

This is for households who are eligible for the housing register but don't meet the qualifying requirements of the other bands.

For more information about the bands read our Allocation Scheme.

Band S – Specialised Housing

This is for applicants who require specialised housing, such as adapted properties.

Band T

This band is for applicants who have been placed into interim or temporary accommodation by us.

For more information about the bands, read our Allocation Scheme.

Bidding for a property

Once you've been placed in a band and given your account number you can start bidding for properties on the Kent Homechoice website.

Available properties are advertised by our housing association partners and you can bid on a property at any time before the bidding closing date.

Change of circumstances

You'll need to tell us of any changes in your circumstances. You can do this by visiting the Kent Homechoice website.