Bid for a property
How to bid for properties
Bidding for council and housing association properties.
Choice Based Lettings
Our choice-based lettings service lets you tell us which advertised properties you're interested in.
This is called bidding, even though no money is involved. Placing a bid on a property shows you're interested in it.
Before you can bid, you need to:
- apply to join the housing register
- send us any extra information we ask for
- get a decision letter from us saying your application has been successful
Make a bid
Once you've joined the Housing Register and received your household ID, the basic steps are:
- Login to your Home Connections account
- Find an available property
- Check you qualify to bid for the property, as some are only for single people or families, adapted for people with accessibility needs, or another priority listed in our allocations policy
- You can bid each week anytime from 12.01am on Wednesday to 11.59pm on Sunday
- Wait for the landlord of the property to contact you, if your bid is successful
Your account will show you all the bids you've placed.
You can find out more about Choice Based Lettings, including frequently asked questions, on the Home Connections site.
Forgotten password or household ID
If you’ve forgotten your password, use the ‘Can’t access my account’ link on the Home Connections login page.
If you’re not sure what your household ID is, you can request a reminder for your ID.
Automatic bidding
If you find it difficult to bid for properties online, we can set up Autobid which will automatically bid on properties for you.
You tell us areas you’d like to live in, including up to 7 areas of Kingston and any other boroughs we have links with. Bids are then automatically placed for any suitable homes that become available.
Email housing.register@kingston.gov.uk if you are interested in setting up Autobid.
All homeless households in temporary accommodation and on the Housing Register will be set up with automatic bidding.
Getting an offer
If you get an offer to move into a property you bid on, you'll normally only have a short time to accept.
If you do not accept the offer, you may continue to bid on other properties depending on your circumstances. You can find more about what happens if you refuse an offer in our housing allocations policy.
If your circumstances change
Let us know if anything changes that could affect your priority on the Housing Register.
Update your entry to tell us about changes in your:
- household or living arrangements
- medical needs
- contact details like address, email or telephone number