Housing Register

Who can apply?

We no longer own any housing stock, and social housing is provided by registered providers (RPs) formerly known as housing associations.

To apply for social housing you will need to register with us, and to be eligible, you will need to have a housing need and meet the criteria in the Housing Register allocation scheme.

Applications are open to both applicants who currently hold a social housing tenancy and those who don’t.

Local connection

Applicants will need to have a local connection to the borough through residence or employment to apply for housing by meeting one of the following criteria:

• have been living in settled accommodation in the borough for the last three years
• have previously lived in settled accommodation in the borough for 3 out of the last 5 years
• have immediate family (mother, father, brother, sister, children aged over 18) who have lived in the borough continuously for the last five years
• be employed in the borough, with a permanent contract of paid employment that has been continuous for the last 12 months, or self employed for the last 12 months, where there is evidence that the main area of work is in the borough
• serving or former members of the armed forces (honourably discharged within the past five years), injured members of the reserve forces or bereaved spouses/civil partners of the armed forces who lost their partner due to military service and must leave Ministry of Defence family accommodation

Please see the Housing Register allocation scheme for further information.

As there is a limited stock of social housing, we have to apply qualification criteria to those applying for housing, for example:

household income and savings need to be below the financial limits in the Housing Register allocation scheme

in most circumstances, applicants who own their own property will not be able to apply

households with previous rent arrears with a private or social landlord or who have committed anti social behaviour in a previous tenancy will generally not be accepted

Please see the Housing Register allocation scheme for a complete list of qualifying criteria. Only applicants with a housing need will be able to apply for social housing through the Housing Register, and will need to meet at least one of the housing need criteria in the scheme.

Examples of a housing need include homelessness, overcrowding of accommodation, serious disrepair of a privately rented property, unsuitable accommodation due to a medical or welfare condition, a disability in the household where the current accommodation cannot be made suitable for that person, and fleeing domestic violence. The full list can be found in the scheme.

Assessing your housing register application

As there is a limited stock of social housing, we have to apply qualification criteria to those applying for housing, for example:

• household income and savings need to be below the financial limits in the Housing Register allocation scheme
• in most circumstances, applicants who own their own property will not be able to apply
• households with previous rent arrears with a private or social landlord or who have committed anti social behaviour in a previous tenancy will generally not be accepted

Please see the Housing Register allocation scheme for a complete list of qualifying criteria. Only applicants with a housing need will be able to apply for social housing through the Housing Register, and will need to meet at least one of the housing need criteria in the scheme.

Examples of a housing need include homelessness, overcrowding of accommodation, serious disrepair of a privately rented property, unsuitable accommodation due to a medical or welfare condition, a disability in the household where the current accommodation cannot be made suitable for that person, and fleeing domestic violence. The full list can be found in the scheme.

How to apply

Register online

Please complete all questions to enable us to fully assess your housing need.

We will need identification and proof of address (please see our checklist for requirements)

Once we have assessed your application, we will advise you of the outcome, and you will be placed in Band A, B, C or D according to your housing need.

For full details of the criteria for Bands A, B C or D please refer to the Housing Register allocation scheme.

If your application is declined we will write to you with the reasons why and you will have the opportunity to request a review if you feel the decision is incorrect.

Reviews about decisions in respect of assessing and banding your application will be looked at by a manager in the Housing Needs team.

If you are unable to access the internet to apply or you are having difficulties with completing the on-line form then please contact our the Allocations Team on 01892 526 121 or email allocations@tunbridgewells.gov.uk.