Housing allocations policy - Shortlisting procedure

Accommodation will be nominated through direct offers of accommodation complicit with this policy based on the respective banding priority and registration date, i.e. within the pool of applicants who are eligible for the property type, the household in the highest ranked Priority Band and earliest registration date is considered first (see also Section 1.3 and 3.1 below).

Where there is justifiable evidence to do so, the Council will operate a property quota system to ensure that it meets both its statutory obligations to those owed additional and reasonable preference and its strategic objectives in enabling balanced, sustainable communities. For example, the Council may choose to allocate 30% of void properties to Band A, 50% to Band B and 15% to Band C and so forth.

In certain circumstances, for example where a statutory duty to provide accommodation is owed, the Council reserves the right to nominate households to suitable accommodation outside of the procedure outlined in 1.1 above where the following housing need and/or circumstances apply:

• There is a threat to life
• Emergency cases whose homes are damaged by fire, flood or other disaster may be provided with another tenancy if it is not possible to repair the existing home, or if any work to repair is to take such a long period of time that there will be serious disruption to family life
• Households who, on police advice, must be moved immediately due to serious threats to one or more members of the household, or whose continuing occupation would pose a threat to the community
• An applicant who has an exceptional need that is not covered in the Allocations Scheme. For example, where child or public protection issues require re-housing
• Where a statutory duty to provide accommodation is owed, and where it is in the best interests of both the household and the Council to make a statutory offer of suitable accommodation
• Households who are seeking to release accommodation as set out in Section C/6
• Other exceptional circumstances as authorised by the Head of Customer Engagement