MONMOUTHSHIRE COMMON ALLOCATION POLICY

1 MONMOUTHSHIRE COMMON ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 2 Table of Contents Page No. List of Appendices 5 Section 1 - Introduction 6 Section 2 Background to the ALLOCATION POLICY 8 Section 3 The Legal Framework 9 Section 4 POLICY Aims & Objectives 10 Section 5 Customer Commitments 11 Section 6 Data Protection & Information Sharing 12 Data Protection 12 Information Sharing Without Consent 12 Information Sharing Within the Partnership 12 Section 7 Registration 13 Making an Application for Housing 13 Who Can and Can t Register 13 Exclusions from the Housing Register 14

2 Local Connection 15 Section 8 Assessing Applications 17 How Applications are Assessed 17 Age Limit 17 Serious Offenders 18 Applicants Living Away from MONMOUTHSHIRE 18 Rough Sleepers 18 Deferred Status 19 False or With-held Information 19 Incomplete Applications 20 Applications from Councillors, Board Members, Staff and 20 Their Close Relatives Change of Circumstances 21 Deliberately Worsening Circumstances 21 Reviews of the Register 21 Cancelling Applications 21 Section 9 Choice and Preference Options 23 Section 10 What is an ALLOCATION Under This Scheme 24 Allocations and Choice Based Lettings 24 Allocations not Covered by This Scheme 24 Starter or Introductory Tenancies 25 Joint Tenancies 25 Sheltered Housing for the Elderly 25 Transfers 26 Insufficient Demand for a Property 26

3 Letting Quotas 26 MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 3 Use of Local Lettings Plans 26 New Developments 27 Decanting Tenants 27 Nominations to Other Housing Associations 27 Section 11 Offers and Refusals 29 Refusals and Non-Response to Offers 29 Offers of Accommodation to Homeless Households 29 Withdrawing Offers of Accommodation 30 Pre- ALLOCATION or Verification Visits 31 Section 12 Decision reviews and Complaints 32 Reviews of Decisions Made 32 Complaints 33 Section 13 Reviewing the Allocations POLICY 34 How Reviews will be Managed 34 Section 14 Medical and Welfare Cases 35 Medical Priority 35 Welfare (Social) Priority 36 Effective Date for Applicants with a Medical/Welfare Need 38 Change of Circumstances for Medical and Welfare Cases 39 Section 15 Property Size and Type 40 Property Size Eligibility Criteria 40 Pregnant Women 40 Access to Children 40 Purpose Built or Adapted Disabled Accommodation 41 Exceptional Property Criteria (Sensitive Lettings)

4 41 Table 1 General Needs Accommodation 43 Table 2 OAP/Sheltered Accommodation 44 Section 16 Housing Need Bands 45 Band 1 Urgent Housing Need 45 Special Management Lettings 45 People Occupying Unsanitary or Unfit Housing 45 Exceptional Medical Need 46 Exceptional Welfare Need 46 RSL Tenants Requiring Permanent Decanting 46 National Witness Mobility Service Referrals 46 Band 2 High Housing Need 46 Homeless Households Owed a Full Duty 46 Lacking 2 or more Bedrooms 46 Lacking Basic Amenities 47 Care Leavers and Child in Need 47 Tenants Vacating Disabled Accommodation 47 Transfers who are Under-occupying by 2 Bedrooms 47 Successors who are Under-occupying 48 Move-on From Supported Housing Projects 48 High Medical Need 48 High Welfare Need 48 MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 4 Band 3 Medium Housing Need 48 Non-Priority Homeless Households 49 Lacking One Bedroom 49 Intentionally Homeless Households 49 Medium Medical Need 49 Medium

5 Welfare Need 49 Leaving Armed Forces 49 Foster Carers or Adoptive Parents 49 Split Families 50 Children in Flats 50 Applicants with Children Occupying One Bedroom 50 Band 4 Low Housing Need 50 Low Medical Need 50 Low Welfare Need 50 Sharing Facilities 51 Reduced Preference Due to Refusals 51 Transfer Under-occupying by One Bedroom 51 Minor Disrepair 52 Caravan Dwellers 52 Band 5 No Housing Need 52 Home Owners 52 Adequately Housed Tenants 52 Serving Armed Forces Personnel 52 Serving Prisoners 52 Sufficient Financial Resources 53 Reduced Preference due to Refusals 53 No Local Connection 53 Section 17 Summary of the Bands 54 Section 18 Choice Based Lettings ALLOCATION Model 55 Introduction to MONMOUTHSHIRE Home Search 55 Advertising Properties 55 Property Adverts 56 How to Bid for Properties 56 The Selection Process Short-listing 57 Verification Visits 57 Offers of Accommodation 58 Refusal Following a Bid 58

6 Viewing a Property 58 Applicants who Fail to Bid 59 Homeless Applicants Owed a Full Duty 59 Assisted Bidding for Vulnerable Applicants 59 Direct Lets 60 Feedback on Let Properties 61 Appendices 62-72 MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 5 List of Appendices Appendix 1 MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council Affordable Housing Rural Allocations POLICY (Amended Feb 2011) Pages 63-65 Appendix 2 Exclusions, Reduced Preference; Deferred Applications and Inclusion POLICY Pages 66-71 Appendix 3 Letting Quotas Page 72 MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 6 Section 1 - Introduction MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council (MCC), MONMOUTHSHIRE Housing Association (MHA), Melin Homes and Charter Housing have established a partnership called the MONMOUTHSHIRE Housing Register Partnership (MHRP).

7 The Register will be held on behalf of MCC and administered on behalf of all partners by MONMOUTHSHIRE Housing Association. This will create a single point of access for social housing in MONMOUTHSHIRE . To deliver greater choice for all those seeking housing and to enable people to make well informed decisions about their housing options a choice based lettings scheme called MONMOUTHSHIRE Home Search is being established by the Housing Association partners, to let their empty properties. This Allocations POLICY sets out the POLICY and procedures for accessing affordable housing under the MONMOUTHSHIRE Housing Register and contains the POLICY adopted by the Housing Associations for choice based lettings.

8 For the purposes of the POLICY covering choice based lettings the partnership of Charter Housing, MHA and Melin Homes is referred to as MONMOUTHSHIRE Home Search. This POLICY meets the requirements in Part VI Housing Act 1996 (as amended by Homelessness Act 2002), giving reasonable preference to those applicants in greatest need. Under this POLICY , applicants are placed into one of five broad bands of housing need according to their circumstances. MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 7 For the purposes of letting vacant properties, vacancies will be advertised via MONMOUTHSHIRE Home Search by a variety of means to deliver maximum accessibility.

9 As MCC does not have any social housing stock, it does not have a lettings POLICY . However all social housing vacancies in MONMOUTHSHIRE will by let via the Home Search scheme using the priority of applicants from the MHRP POLICY . Although this Scheme will provide greater choice for applicants, the scheme in itself will not increase the number of properties available. The system will, however, be more transparent and is expected to provide applicants with a more realistic view of their prospects of securing accommodation. Social housing in MONMOUTHSHIRE is unlikely to satisfy all applicants by providing affordable rented accommodation, so alternative housing options such as: private rented accommodation; mutual exchanges and low cost home ownership schemes will need to explored by applicants.

10 MONMOUTHSHIRE ALLOCATION POLICY Final Version last updated Page 8 Section 2 - Background to the Allocations POLICY The Council transferred its housing stock to MH