Your Guide to Applying for Housing in Kingston

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• Your Guide to Applying for Housing in Kingston

The following is a guide to applying for housing in Kingston upon Thames. You can access all the information or just specific points by using the shortcut links below.

The information on this page is also now available in this printed booklet, copies of which can be obtained from Guildhall One reception or by contacting the Allocations Section on 020 8547 5470.  

The Council's policy on offering choice

The Council advertises available homes to offer the maximum level of choice to people applying for housing. Those registered for housing can express an interest in properties they would like to be offered, by placing a bid for them through the Choice Based Lettings Scheme. The applicant with the highest priority, who bids for an advertised home, will be offered that property (unless there are reasons why they cannot be offered the property, such as rent arrears).

Who can apply?

Anyone over 16 who needs to live in the borough can apply to join the Kingston Housing Register. If you are under 18, we will require an adult or organisation to act as a guarantor for the rent until you reach the age of 18 if you are offered a property.

Priority is given to Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames residents, so if you live outside the borough, your application will be placed in Band D. This means that you are less likely to be successful in bidding for available general purpose homes. However, older people may be successful in bidding for sheltered housing for which there is a lower level of demand.

What happens after I apply?

Once you have filled in your form and returned it to the Kingston Housing Partnership we use it to assess your priority for housing. We use a banding scheme to rank your application according to your housing circumstances, including any medical conditions which are affected by your housing. We then send you a letter either accepting or rejecting your application and advising you of your priority for housing under the Council’s Allocations Policy. You will also receive a ‘User Guide to Choice Based Lettings’ to explain how to bid for available homes.

We will only reject your application if you are not eligible for housing under the terms of the Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002. This applies to anyone in the following groups:

• Certain categories of asylum seekers and people returning to live in this country.
  
• Some people who have lost a tenancy because of unacceptable behaviour or have been found guilty of similar behaviour.

If you fall into either of these categories, we will write to you to explain your position in more detail.

We will normally only visit you if you have a very high priority for housing, but you can enquire about the position of your application at any time.

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Asylum seekers/persons from abroad

If you are subject to immigration control then you may not be eligible to join the Kingston Housing Register. The Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002, places a requirement on us to ensure that only qualifying persons are accepted for rehousing. We will be pleased to help you find out if you are eligible or not.

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Do I have to renew my application?

We regularly review the applications of people on the Housing Register who are not bidding for available homes. If you have not placed a bid for six months or more, we will contact you to find out if you wish to remain on the Register.

If, at any time, you wish to cancel your application, please telephone us on 020 8547 5470. You can also contact us by e-mail at home.connections@rbk.kingston.gov.uk or write to us at:

The Kingston Housing Partnership
Guildhall 1
St James’ Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey KT1 1EU.

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How does the Partnership decide who needs housing?

Each application is assessed and placed in  These are:

• Band A – emergency/top priority.
• Band B – urgent need to move.
• Band C – identified housing need.
• Band D – all other applicants.

You are also given a priority date, based on the length of time you have been waiting for housing. This will usually be your registration date, but if you move up a band, it will be the date you joined the higher band.

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Bidding for available homes

All properties becoming available for letting are advertised on the Home Connections website via a link from the Council's website, and in Property Weekly, a free local newspaper. When we close the weekly advertising cycle, we then have a list of everybody who has registered an expression of interest for each property advertised. From these lists we offer the property to the bidder with the highest priority, that is, the bidder with the highest band and the earliest priority date in that band.

In a small number of cases, we may not offer the property to the person who bids and who has the highest priority because they are a council tenant with rent arrears, or there is another management reason. In this case, the property will be offered to the person on the list with the next highest priority.

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Rehousing targets

To make the most effective use of the limited number of properties available, we have yearly rehousing targets for each of the main groups applying for housing in Kingston. These targets apply to council housing and housing association properties for which the Council can nominate the tenant.

We may therefore advertise certain homes as only available to particular customer categories, in order to ensure that these targets are achieved.

Customer categories

• First time applicants.
• Accepted homelessness duty.
• Council and other housing association tenants.
• Other.

With the exception of sheltered housing, we are unable to house very many first time applicants other than homeless people who are living in temporary housing that has been provided as part of the Council’s legal responsibilities. Approximately a quarter of all tenancies for vacant properties are given to either council or housing association tenants who move out of housing which can then be offered to another needy household.

Where two applicants with the same priority band and date successfully bid for the same property, we will offer the property to the person who applied for housing first.

Housing associations also use the Kingston Housing Register and everyone who applies will be considered for vacant properties in the same way that council tenancies are offered. For the small number of housing association properties for which the Council is not entitled to select the tenant, the association may use the Kingston Housing Register to choose their own tenant. Housing associations may have separate priorities for rehousing people and their own method of assessment.

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What are my chances of being rehoused?

We let around 400 vacancies each year. About 40% of lettings are sheltered housing for the elderly, studio or one bedroomed flats. The majority of lettings go to accepted homeless households, council and housing association tenants and other high priority applicants. We would like to be able to help everyone who applies to us. However, because of the housing shortage in the borough, unless you have a high priority, or require less popular types of housing, such a sheltered housing or a property on a high floor level, your chances of housing are small.To give you an indication of your chances of being offered a home, we publish the priority band and date of the applicants we let available homes to.

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Direct offers to vulnerable applicants

Vulnerable applicants who are unable to bid for homes themselves, and have no-one available to bid on their behalf, may be made a direct offer of suitable housing.

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What if my circumstances change?

You must let us know if there are any changes in your circumstances as this may affect the priority of your application and your position on the Kingston Housing Register. We are not able to make you an offer of housing if you have been bidding using details that are out of date.

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What size of home will I be considered for?

The number of bedrooms you are registered for is based on the number of people in your household. For housing purposes this is people who live with you on a permanent basis, or could reasonably be expected to live with you on a permanent basis.

Apart from a new baby, anyone who joins your household will not normally be counted as permanent until they have been living with you for 12 months. Also, children who stay with you at weekends and school holidays, or less than half of each week on average, will not normally be counted.

The number of bedrooms you are registered for is based on the number of people in your household.

The following guidelines on bedroom sharing are applied:

1. Any two people living together as a couple are expected to share a bedroom.
   
2. Any two children under the age of 10 are expected to share
   a bedroom.
   
3. A son aged over 10 is expected to share a bedroom with another son, even if they are both adults, provided the age gap between them is less than seven years. The same rule applies for daughters.
   
4. For families with more than two children, the sleeping arrangement that uses the minimum number of bedrooms will be used.

An additional bedroom may be agreed in exceptional circumstances, if it is considered medically unreasonable for two household members to share a bedroom, but they would be expected to share under normal circumstances.

Taking these guidelines into account, available homes will usually be offered as follows:

• Studio flat/small 1 bedroom flat
  Single person.
• 1 bedroom flat/house/bungalow
  Single person or a couple. Couples may be given preference.
• 2 bedroom flat/maisonette/house
  Family with 1 child or 2 children under 10.
• 3 bedroom flat/maisonette/house
  Family with 2 older children, 3 children or 4 small children.
• 4 bedroom flat/maisonette/house
  Family with 4 or more children
• 5 bedroom or larger house
  Family with 6 or more children
• Older persons/sheltered housing
  People aged over 60 (over 55 if no-one aged over 60 bids).

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What if someone in my household has a medical problem?

If a member of your household has a medical problem which is affected by your housing, you should fill in a medical self-assessment form. This is assessed by an independent medical adviser, who is a qualified doctor. There is no need for you to go to your doctor or consultant for a report. You should complete the form as fully as possible as it is not possible for the medical adviser to see you in person.

If there is insufficient information on your form, we will contact your doctor, but only where you have given your consent for this to happen. Applicants whose health is not affected by their housing, or who already live in suitable housing, will not be awarded any medical priority. A higher priority is awarded where your health is severely affected by your housing. The medical adviser will also recommend the type of housing most suitable for your condition.

Applicants awarded overriding medical priority will be placed in Band A. Applicants awarded a high medical priority will be placed in Band B.

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What if I need a carer?

If you have a medical condition for which we consider it is essential that you have a live-in carer, you will be entitled to register for a property with an extra bedroom for your carer.

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What if I want someone to join my application?

Only someone who is living with you as part of your household on a permanent basis can be included on your application. We make allowances for families who are genuinely forced to live separately due to a lack of housing.

If you have children who visit you on a regular basis but live elsewhere for most of the week, they will not be included as part of your household. You may be required to produce evidence about where your children live and parenting arrangements if you have joint parental responsibility for them.

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If you can help me, how many offers will I receive?

All Kingston Housing Register applicants receive a maximum of two suitable offers of housing, except where it is in the Council’s interest to make more than two offers, for example to under-occupying tenants who are willing to move to a smaller home.

If we believe you have refused two suitable offers your application will be placed in Band D. You may apply to have your application reassessed after one year.

If you are a homeless household who has refused two reasonable offers, we will have no further homelessness duty towards you and your temporary housing will be cancelled. You will then have to make your own housing arrangements.

The type of information we use to decide whether a refusal is unreasonable is as follows:

• Is the property within reasonable travelling distance of your child’s school, in other words, usually by a direct public transport route?
  
• Is the property suitable for any medical condition that you or your household may have?
  
• Is there evidence, such as injunctions/police reports and so on, that you would be at risk if you moved to the property offered?
  
• Why did you place a bid on a property you did not want?

Refusing an offer of housing because you want a garden, or do not want to live in a flat or on an estate, will not normally  be accepted as a good reasons for refusing an offer.

The Council has an appeals mechanism for applicants who feel that their refusal is reasonable. You will receive details of how to appeal when you view any property you have been offered.

Family homes above the 4th floor are considered suitable for households where all members are aged 10 or over. They may be offered to families with children below the age of 10, if they bid, but if they refuse the offer, it will not be counted against them. If they accept, they may not apply for a transfer within 12 months of their new tenancy starting.

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What is a Housing Association?

Housing associations are non-profit-making organisations providing homes for people who need them. They are run by voluntary committees with paid staff carrying out the day to day running of the association.

Housing associations are independent from the Council and, unless the Council has the right to select the tenant, generally have their own rules for selecting tenants. The size, type and location of properties varies from one association to another, and many have properties in more than one borough. Most do not operate their own housing register and rely on the Council to select their tenants. This is known as a 'nomination'.

Some housing associations provide homes that are part rent, part buy. This is known as shared ownership. If you would like more information about shared ownership, please contact the Home Ownership team on 020 8547 5439.

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What if I own my home?

You may register for housing. However your application will be placed in Band D, unless you have an overriding medical need for rehousing, in which case you will receive higher priority. In view of the shortage of social rented housing in the borough, we will discuss with you how your home could be used by the Council for temporary housing for homeless households if you successfully bid for an available home.

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What type of tenancy will I be offered?

If you are offered a council tenancy and you are not a permanent council or housing association tenant already, you will be offered an Introductory Tenancy.

This form of tenancy enables the Council to more easily evict new tenants who have broken their tenancy agreement, for example by getting into rent arrears or causing nuisance. If you have not broken your tenancy agreement it will automatically become a Secure Tenancy after one year.

If you are offered a housing association tenancy, this will be an Assured Tenancy. The rights of housing association tenants are protected by the Tenants’ Guarantee. The main difference between council and housing association tenancies is that housing association tenants have limited opportunities to buy their home. However, other low cost home ownership opportunities are made to both council and housing association tenants.

You will be provided with more information of your rights and responsibilities as an introductory or assured tenant if you are offered a tenancy.

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What if I have rent arrears?

If you are, or have ever been, a council or housing association tenant and have outstanding arrears, you will only be rehoused once your arrears and any associated costs are cleared, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

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Housing Register Partners

Go to the link below under Also See.

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How to complete your application form

Go to the link below under Also See.

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