How to Apply for Council Housing

The Council has a legal duty to check whether an applicant is eligible to be allocated accommodation, or whether he or she is excluded under section 160(a), (1) (3) or (5) of the 1996 Housing Act.  The Council can also decide to treat an applicant as ineligible for an allocation of accommodation due to serious unacceptable behaviour under section 160(a)(7) of the 1996 Housing Act.

The Homelessness Act 2002 allows the Council to determine whether an applicant is ineligible for an allocation of a tenancy due to serious unacceptable behaviour.

Any of the following may result in your application being investigated further:

• People who have previously been evicted by this council or another local authority or social housing provider, for reasons of anti-social behaviour or for causing damage to the landlords property.
• People who have had an injunction under Part V of the Housing Act 1996 obtained against them by the Council.
• People who have been convicted of an offence relating to the supplying of drugs and who have received a custodial sentence of at least two and half years, or have received a shorter sentence that is not yet spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
• Any person where this Council, or any other local authority or Registered Social Landlord has a current injunction, or has obtained an injunction within the past three years, against them due to their behaviour towards housing staff.
• Any person convicted of a violent or threatening offence towards a Council member, a member of staff of this Council, or any other local authority or another Registered Social Landlord within the past five years.
• If you or a member of your household, are considered to have committed acts of unacceptable behaviour, you may be requested to provide additional information or attend an interview.  If the Council then decide you are ineligible you will receive a written decision giving reasons why you have been been determined as ineligible for allocation.

In these cases, your application will not be placed in a band and the application excluded.

Where the behaviour of an applicant or a member of his/her family affects their suitability to be a tenant but is not so severe as to exclude them from the Housing Register (e.g. rent arrears or low level nuisance) the applicant will receive reduced preference and be placed in Band 4.