After running for a year, the online service to bid for homes for social rent across North Yorkshire is launching a consultation on Monday 10 September on what should be reviewed and considered in the policy.

Called the North Yorkshire Home Choice Sub Regional Partnership, the scheme allows eligible people who are on council waiting lists, to join a register and bid for council and partner housing association homes across the region at www.northyorkshirehomechoice.org.uk

Now, changes to the Localism Act 2011 allow social landlords to set their own rules about who is eligible to join the register and the types of households that should be given preference. Registered social landlords were previously obliged to operate an open register for social housing and many, including North Yorkshire Home Choice, still do, allowing any eligible person to apply for a social rented home subject to certain limited exceptions.

The Partnership has a very high level of housing need, with over 17,000 households waiting for a social rented homes and over 4,000 of these being in York. The proportion of social rented homes is relatively small and so is the number of homes becoming vacant each year. Housing providers have therefore geared their policies giving priority towards those with the highest needs. This means that many of those on the waiting list are unlikely to ever be offered a home.

The consultation asks:
Who should be accepted onto the housing register?

• Applicants who own a property
• Applicants from outside the North Yorkshire Home Choice area
• Applicants with higher levels of income, equity and savings

Which categories of people should be given additional preference?

• Military personnel
• Registered foster carers
• Good tenants
• Households in work or who make a significant contribution to the community

The consultation also considers;
• Offering properties to households based on their assessed housing need only
• Whether accepted homeless applicants – including families – should be able to bid or be given only one direct offer of a property
• Should applicants who persistently bid and refuse properties be excluded from the register.

This consultation will begin on Monday 10 September and end on Friday 2 November at 5pm.

How to respond:
You can respond to a short online questionnaire through the council North Yorkshire Home Choice website:
www.northyorkshirehomechoice.org.uk

If you are unable to complete the survey online please contact the Housing Registrations team on (01904) 554044 or email housing.registrations@york.gov.uk for a copy of the questionnaire.