Guide to Applying for Home with Homehunt Est Lothin
Welcome to Homehunt Simply better wy to provide homes.
This Guide contins importnt informtion which you must red crefully so tht you understnd how Homehunt works nd don t do nything tht might lower your chnces of getting property. If there is nything you don t understnd or you need more dvice or informtion, plese contct us. The Homehunt Register is shred by severl Scottish lndlords. You only hve to register once then you cn choose to be considered by one, few or ll of them depending on where you wnt to live. Once you hve registered with Homehunt, you cn pply for ll properties dvertised provided you hve chosen to register with the lndlord the property belongs to. There will usully be lot of people pplying for the sme property nd so there re some simple rules to decide s firly s possible who will be offered the property. Est Lothin Housing Assocition s rules re explined in this booklet, the other lndlords will hve different rules. Becuse rented ccommodtion is in very short supply in Est Lothin, we strongly recommend tht you pply to other housing providers such s Est Lothin Council or other Housing Associtions.
Contents Section Pge 1 Wht is Homehunt?...5 2 Registering...5 You need to register before you cn pply for houses 3 Connection to Est Lothin...6 How we restrict lloctions for people who don t hve connection to Est Lothin 4 Priority Psses...6 How to tell us if you hve n urgent housing need 5 How we ssess Priority Psses...8 How we decide who gets priority for housing 6 Limiting Priority Psses...10 How Psses cn be limited nd wht this mens 7 How long does my Priority Pss lst?...12 Informtion on how nd when Priority Pss cn be withdrwn 8 Applying for house...13 How to pply for n dvertised property 9 Offers of Property...14 How nd when offers re mde 10 Reporting Alloctions...15 Wht informtion we will publish following n lloction 11 Who is not Eligible for Housing...15 Circumstnces under which registrtions cn be Suspended 12 Flse Informtion...16 Providing flse or misleding informtion cn led to your registrtion being suspended, or eviction ction being tken 13 Contcting us...16
1 Wht is Homehunt? Homehunt is choice-bsed lloctions computer system. It is used by number of different lndlords operting in different res throughout Scotlnd. You cn register with ny of these lndlords, llowing you to pply for properties in lots of different res. The dvntge of Choice Bsed Lettings (CBL) system is tht you, the pplicnt, cn see wht properties re vilble t ny time, nd cn choose to pply for the properties tht re suitble for your needs, nd re in res where you would like to live. It is importnt tht you ctively look for properties but this is esy to do, especilly if you use the website. 2 Registering You need to register with Est Lothin Housing Assocition before you cn pply for one of our, or Homes for Life Housing Prtnership s, properties. The esiest wy to register is online t www.homehunt.info. Once you hve completed the registrtion, you choose which re(s) you wnt to live in nd you will be given list of Homehunt lndlords who hve properties in your re(s). If you prefer you cn downlod nd print n ppliction form from the useful documents section of the website, or sk us to send one to you in the post by clling our office on 01620 825032. Once we hve ccepted your registrtion, you will be given registrtion number. You need this number to log in to your registrtion on line, pply for properties or if you need to phone or write to us. If your circumstnces chnge t ny time it is very importnt tht you tell us becuse if you successfully pply for property then we find tht the informtion we hve bout you is incorrect you my not be offered the property. 5
3 Connection to Est Lothin There re not enough ffordble rented homes for the people who need them nd the shortge is prticulrly bd in Est Lothin. We re required by lw to llow nyone over the ge of 16 to pply to us nd to hve their need for housing ssessed but when we llocte properties we re llowed to prioritise people with connection to Est Lothin. You hve connection to Est Lothin if you Alredy live here Work, hve been offered or re looking for job here Need to move here to be ner reltive or crer Hve specil socil or medicl resons for needing to be housed here Wnt to move here to get wy from hrssment or domestic buse 4 Priority Psses We wnt to mke sure tht we llocte the homes we hve vilble to the people who need them most. So if you hve significnt housing need you might qulify for Priority Pss. You might be in significnt housing need for one of the following resons: You re homeless or thretened with homelessness. You re experiencing hrssment or nti-socil behviour Your helth is ffected by your current housing sitution You re overcrowded s you do not hve enough bedrooms for your fmily Your home is too big nd you need smller property (this pplies only to ELHA or HfLHP tennts) Your property is unsuitble becuse of its condition or lck of menities You need to move to prticulr re for work or fmily resons You hve never hd tenncy nd cn t fford privte sector housing 6
If ny of these situtions pply to you, you cn pply for Priority Pss. The esiest wy to do this is online t www.homehunt.info (you my hve done this lredy). The website lists ech pss seprtely, nd you need to complete seprte online ppliction form for ech pss you think you my be eligible for. It is importnt tht you submit pplictions for every type of priority you think pplies to you, so we cn ssess your whole sitution. If you prefer, you cn request Pss ppliction form from our office. The ppliction forms (both pper nd online) hve more informtion bout the criteri you need to meet to qulify for ech priority pss nd re designed to collect the informtion we need to ccurtely ssess your housing need in line with our lloctions policy. If you think you my be eligible for more thn one priority pss, plese fill in ll of the pss pplictions you think my pply to your sitution. If you re eligible for more thn one priority pss, we will issue you whichever one gives you the highest priority or, if you qulify for two or more psses you my qulify for cumultive pss which increses your priority. If you re unsure if you qulify for pss, plese cll us to discuss your sitution. We cn dvise you which priority pss best mtches your sitution, nd cn lso help you with filling out the form or using the website. Homeless Psses re only wrded where Est Lothin Council hs completed homeless ssessment nd / or ccepted duty to house you. If you re homeless you must contct your locl uthority s soon s possible. Plese note tht we do not provide ny temporry ccommodtion. The tble over the pge lists the Priority Psses we offer, nd the different levels of priority we wrd. 7
5 How do we ssess Priority Psses? Priority psses re wrded on seven levels; Pltinum, Gold Plus, Gold, Silver Plus, Silver, Bronze Plus nd Bronze, s indicted in the tble below. If you re eligible for Priority Pss you will be issued one of the following Pss Types: Priority Pss Level Priority Type Pltinum Gold Gold Silver Silver Bronze Bronze Plus Plus Plus Homelessness Hrssment Medicl Unsuitble Housing Overcrowding Under-occuption Need to be in Community First Affordble Home Trnsfer Cumultive Plus psses re wrded if you qulify for more thn one pss t the sme level. When we receive your priority pss form, we will ssess wht level of priority you re entitled to bsed on the informtion you hve provided in your priority pss ppliction form so it s importnt you give us enough informtion to mke decision. Sometimes we my need more informtion, for exmple, we my sk for letter from your doctor to clrify your medicl needs, or letter from your employer confirming where you work. If we need further 8
informtion we will write to you or send n emil to let you know. More often we will only sk for more informtion if you re being considered for vcnt property. We will check ll of the informtion you hve provided before we confirm n offer of housing. If you hve moved from home tht you hd legl right to occupy to nother property where your housing sitution is worse nd you qulify for Priority Pss in your new home, we will not normlly wrd the Pss for period of two yers becuse you hve delibertely or crelessly mde your sitution worse. Where this hppens we will only wrd Pss if you would hve qulified for one in the home you moved from. Once we hve ssessed your ppliction we will confirm in writing if you hve been wrded Priority Pss. If you re wrded Priority Pss it will be pplied to your registrtion s soon s we hve ssessed your ppliction nd will be tken into considertion every time you bid for property tht flls within ny limits set on your Pss (see section 6 below). If your ppliction for Priority Pss is unsuccessful, or if you believe you hve been wrded the wrong level of priority, you cn ppel. We will give you informtion on how to ppel decision on priority pss ppliction in the letter informing you of our decision. 9
6 Limiting Priority Psses Priority Psses re vlid for two yers. If you don t use your pss to pply for properties of the size you need in the res you hve chosen then, t the end of the 2 yers, we will withdrw the pss. If we hven t dvertised ny suitble properties, then the pss will be utomticlly renewed. When you pply for Priority Pss, in most cses you cn choose to limit the Pss to specific towns or villges, or types of property. Some Psses re limited by us. The tble below shows how Psses cn be limited, nd by whom. Who cn limit psses to property fetures? Property Type Applicnt ELHA* Amenity property ( community lrm is provided) Bunglow First floor flt (cn mnge flight of stirs) Ground floor flt House Second floor flt or higher Sheltered property Specil Requirements Ground floor Sheltered property Wlk in shower Wet floor shower Wheelchir ccess Fully Wheelchir dpted property *limited only s prt of medicl ssessment 10
Who cn limit psses to re? Priority Type Applicnt ELHA Applicnt 2nd* Homelessness Hrssment Medicl Unsuitble Housing Overcrowding/Underoccuption Need to be in the Community First Affordble Home *Applicnt 2nd mens the pplicnt cn limit the pss only fter ELHA hs considered ny limittions first. If your Pss is limited (whether by us or by you), it mens tht it is only recognised for properties tht meet the, limited criteri. You cn still pply for properties tht do not meet the limited criteri but your pss is not recognised nd you re pplying s registered pplicnt with no Priority Pss. So, for exmple, if your Pss ws limited to properties in Hddington, then you could only use it to pply for properties in Hddington. If we dvertised properties of suitble size in Hddington nd you decided not to pply for them then your Pss would be withdrwn fter 2 yers but eqully in this exmple, your Priority Pss would be renewed if no suitble properties hd been dvertised in Hddington even if there hd been suitble properties dvertised in other plces. One of the wys tht we decide who, out of everyone who pplies, is offered property is by looking t who hs the highest level of priority pss. If you do limit your pss, you cn lwys chnge the limits you hve put on it if you wnt, but the new limits wouldn t pply to ny properties dvertised t the time you sked for the chnge. 11
There re situtions where we cn withdrw Priority Pss. If you re offered property becuse you hve Priority Pss nd you refuse the offer we will remove your Priority Pss from your registrtion. If you hve Homeless Priority Pss nd refuse n offer you my lso risk losing your homeless priority with the locl uthority. If your pss is removed becuse you refused n offer of housing, but you think you hd good resons to refuse the offer, you cn ppel. 7 How long does my Priority Pss lst? If you hve priority pss nd you do not pply for ll suitble properties (i.e. properties tht re the right size nd type in the res your pss covers), we will withdrw your pss. Once pss is withdrwn, it will not be wrded for the sme circumstnces for 6 months (lthough if your circumstnces chnge, you might qulify for different type of pss). If you use Priority Pss to pply for n dvertised property then refuse the offer without hving good reson for refusing, your Priority Pss will be withdrwn for period of 2 yers. It is your responsibility to re-pply for priority t the end of this period. If you do lose your Pss, you re entitled to ppel if you wish. Even if you lose your Priority Pss you cn still pply for houses s registered pplicnt. 12
8 Applying for house Our dverts pper online weekly t www.homehunt.info. We send copy of our dverts to gencies such s Est Lothin Council, Citizens Advice Bureux nd locl librries. You cn lso phone 01620 828415 to her list of properties vilble ech week. Once you hve completed your registrtion you cn pply for ny property tht we dvertise, s long s it is suitble for you (for exmple, we wouldn t llow you to pply for house tht ws too smll for your fmily). When you see n dvert for property you re interested in you cn pply online by logging in to your registrtion (remember you will need your registrtion number). Alterntively, you cn pply over the phone, in writing or in person t our office. Properties re dvertised for limited period of time so it is importnt tht you contct us before the closing dte nd time specified in the dvert. If you successfully pply for property nd then refuse the offer we will normlly suspend your priority for two yers. It is therefore relly importnt tht you only pply for properties tht you would ccept if you re offered. It s good ide to check Google Mps Explore this Are for informtion bout the re (https://google.co.uk/mps). If public trnsport links re importnt to you, you should lso look t http://www.trveline.info for informtion bout buses nd trins. You cn pply for s mny dvertised properties s you wish t ny one time. If you qulify for more thn one offer t the sme time, we will ssume tht the property you pplied for first is your first choice, nd so on, in the order you chose to pply. You cn only be mde one offer t ny one time, so the order in which you pply could be importnt to you. If you do not wnt to pply for dvertised properties ech week, you do not hve to. There is no requirement to pply for properties - lthough if you hve Priority Pss you my risk losing it. Every yer we will send you reminder to check whether you still wish to remin registered with Homehunt. 13
9 Offers of Property Once the closing dte nd time for the dvert hs been reched, we look t ll of the pplicnts who hve pplied for dvertised properties. We will normlly mke n offer ccording to the following steps: 1 Who would mke best use of the property for exmple, by using ll the vilble bedrooms or by using disbled dpttions. 2 If more thn one pplicnt would mke best use of property, we will offer it to the person with the highest level of Priority Pss (see the explntion of Priority Psses in sections 4-5). 3 If more thn one person hs the sme level of Priority Pss, the offer will go to the person who hs held their Priority Pss the longest unless one of our tennts hs pplied- they will get priority. 4 If there re no pplicnts with Priority Psses, the offer will go to the pplicnt who first registered with Homehunt unless one of our tennts hs pplied - they will get priority. There re some exceptionl circumstnces when this my not pply. If you would like more informtion bout this, you cn downlod our Alloctions Policy from the document downlods section of our website or cll us for detils. If you re successful in pplying for property you will be notified within one week of the closing dte of the dvert. Plese note tht if you refuse n offer of property you hve pplied for, your Priority Pss will normlly be withdrwn nd you will not be ble to re-pply for the sme Pss for two yers. Becuse of this it is relly importnt tht you think bout whether or not property will suit you before you pply for it. 14
10 Reporting Alloctions After n offer of property hs been ccepted, we will publish detils of how the lloction ws mde on the Homehunt website. We will sy whether or not best use ws mde of property, whether priority pss ws used nd lso how long the successful pplicnt hd been registered for. This gives everyone some ide of the demnd for different properties nd cn help you mke resonble choices bout where you wnt to live. For exmple, is it more importnt to hve home sooner nd go for properties tht re in low demnd, or cn you wit for the perfect property to come long elsewhere? 11 Who is not eligible for housing? In certin circumstnces, registrtions cn be suspended. This mens you will not be ble to pply for ny houses until the suspended sttus is removed. As prt of the registrtion process, you will be sked to nswer severl questions nd sign to confirm tht ll of the informtion you hve given us is correct. The nswers you give show whether or not you meet the criteri to pply for housing with us (see lso flse informtion). If ny criteri re not met, your registrtion will be not be mde live until you cn demonstrte to us tht you cn now meet the criteri to pply for housing. Exmples of when registrtions re suspended include: You hve outstnding rent rrers either with ELHA or nother lndlord, nd you hven t mintined n greement to py them off You hve history of nti-socil behviour or criminl ctivity (subject to the Rehbilittion of Offenders Act) when ction hs been tken (or is pending) by Police, locl uthority, lndlord etc. The registrtion will remin suspended until we re stisfied tht ny such behviour is unlikely to reoccur. You supply flse or misleding informtion see below We hve sked you for more informtion nd hve not yet received it If you would like more informtion bout whether or not you re eligible, plese contct us. If you re not eligible, we will dvise you wht you need to do to be ble to pply for properties. 15
12 Flse informtion If you give us flse or misleding informtion or withhold informtion in n ttempt to secure n offer of property, we will immeditely withdrw ny Priority Pss you hve, nd your registrtion will be suspended for two yers. If tenncy hs strted, we will immeditely tke steps to recover the property. 13 Contct us If you need ny help or dvice or you hve ny comments you would like to mke, plese contct us t: Est Lothin Housing Assocition Ltd 18-20 Mrket Street Hddington Est Lothin EH41 3JL Tel: 01620 825032 Emil: homehunt@elh.com You cn lso go to the Homehunt website www.homehunt.info or our website www.elh.com to find out more bout us nd our services. ELHA will produce this informtion on request in CD, Lrge Print nd Community Lnguges. 18 20 Mrket Street, Hddington, Est Lothin EH41 3JL Scottish Chrity No SC028900 Registered under the Industril nd Provident Societies Act 1965, Registered No 2266R(S) W: elh.com E: enquiries@elh.com T: 01620 825032 F: 01620 826596 Text: elh then your messge to 88222 (messge chrged t stndrd rtes)